TP53 mutant cell lines selected for resistance to MDM2 inhibitors retain growth inhibition by MAPK pathway inhibitors but a reduced apoptotic response

Emergence of resistance to molecular targeted therapy constitutes a limitation to clinical benefits in cancer treatment. Cross-resistance commonly happens with chemotherapeutic agents but might not with targeted agents.

The TP53MUT cells selected by resistance to MDM2 inhibitors nevertheless retained growth inhibitory but not apoptotic response to MAPK pathway inhibitors.

In the current study, TP53 wild-type cell lines with druggable MAPK pathway mutations [BRAF V600E (WM35) or NRAS Q61K (SJSA-1)] were compared with their TP53 mutant sublines (WM35-R, SN40R2) derived by selection for resistance to MDM2/p53 binding antagonists.

The continued presence of the druggable MAPK pathway targets in the TP53 mutant (TP53 MUT) WM35-R and SN40R2 cells was confirmed. Trametinib and vemurafenib were tested on the paired WM35/WM35-R and SJSA-1/SN40R2 cells and similar growth inhibitory effects on the paired cell lines was observed. However, apoptotic responses to trametinib and vemurafenib were greater in WM35 than WM35-R, evidenced by FACS analysis and caspase 3/7 activity, indicating that these MAPK inhibitors acted on the cells partially through p53-regulated pathways. SiRNA mediated p53 knockdown in WM35 replicated the same pattern of response to trametinib and vemurafenib as seen in WM35-R, confirming that p53 plays a role in trametinib and vemurafenib induced apoptosis. In contrast, these differences in apoptotic response between WM35 and WM35-R were not seen with the SJSA-1/SN40R2 cell line pair. This is likely due to p53 suppression by overexpressed MDM2 in SJSA-1.