Synthetic lethality of RB1 and aurora A is driven by stathmin-mediated disruption of microtubule dynamics

Nat Commun. 2020 Oct 9;11(1):5105. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18872-0.

Abstract

RB1 mutational inactivation is a cancer driver in various types of cancer including lung cancer, making it an important target for therapeutic exploitation. We performed chemical and genetic vulnerability screens in RB1-isogenic lung cancer pair and herein report that aurora kinase A (AURKA) inhibition is synthetic lethal in RB1-deficient lung cancer. Mechanistically, RB1-/- cells show unbalanced microtubule dynamics through E2F-mediated upregulation of the microtubule destabilizer stathmin and are hypersensitive to agents targeting microtubule stability. Inhibition of AURKA activity activates stathmin function via reduced phosphorylation and facilitates microtubule destabilization in RB1-/- cells, heavily impacting the bipolar spindle formation and inducing mitotic cell death selectively in RB1-/- cells. This study shows that stathmin-mediated disruption of microtubule dynamics is critical to induce synthetic lethality in RB1-deficient cancer and suggests that upstream factors regulating microtubule dynamics, such as AURKA, can be potential therapeutic targets in RB1-deficient cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aurora Kinase A / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Aurora Kinase A / genetics*
  • Aurora Kinase A / metabolism
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Lung Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Lung Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Mice, Nude
  • Microtubules / genetics
  • Microtubules / metabolism*
  • Pyrazoles / pharmacology
  • Pyrimidines / pharmacology
  • Retinoblastoma Binding Proteins / genetics*
  • Retinoblastoma Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Stathmin / genetics
  • Stathmin / metabolism*
  • Synthetic Lethal Mutations
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / genetics*
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / metabolism
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • ENMD 2076
  • Pyrazoles
  • Pyrimidines
  • RB1 protein, human
  • Retinoblastoma Binding Proteins
  • STMN1 protein, human
  • Stathmin
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
  • AURKA protein, human
  • Aurora Kinase A