[HTML][HTML] Prolonged mitotic arrest induced by Wee1 inhibition sensitizes breast cancer cells to paclitaxel

CW Lewis, Z Jin, D Macdonald, W Wei, XJ Qian… - Oncotarget, 2017 - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
CW Lewis, Z Jin, D Macdonald, W Wei, XJ Qian, WS Choi, R He, X Sun, G Chan
Oncotarget, 2017ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Wee1 kinase is a crucial negative regulator of Cdk1/cyclin B1 activity and is required for
normal entry into and exit from mitosis. Wee1 activity can be chemically inhibited by the
small molecule MK-1775, which is currently being tested in phase I/II clinical trials in
combination with other anti-cancer drugs. MK-1775 promotes cancer cells to bypass the cell-
cycle checkpoints and prematurely enter mitosis. In our study, we show premature mitotic
cells that arise from MK-1775 treatment exhibited centromere fragmentation, a …
Abstract
Wee1 kinase is a crucial negative regulator of Cdk1/cyclin B1 activity and is required for normal entry into and exit from mitosis. Wee1 activity can be chemically inhibited by the small molecule MK-1775, which is currently being tested in phase I/II clinical trials in combination with other anti-cancer drugs. MK-1775 promotes cancer cells to bypass the cell-cycle checkpoints and prematurely enter mitosis. In our study, we show premature mitotic cells that arise from MK-1775 treatment exhibited centromere fragmentation, a morphological feature of mitotic catastrophe that is characterized by centromeres and kinetochore proteins that co-cluster away from the condensed chromosomes. In addition to stimulating early mitotic entry, MK-1775 treatment also delayed mitotic exit. Specifically, cells treated with MK-1775 following release from G1/S or prometaphase arrested in mitosis. MK-1775 induced arrest occurred at metaphase and thus, cells required 12 times longer to transition into anaphase compared to controls. Consistent with an arrest in mitosis, MK-1775 treated prometaphase cells maintained high cyclin B1 and low phospho-tyrosine 15 Cdk1. Importantly, MK-1775 induced mitotic arrest resulted in cell death regardless the of cell-cycle phase prior to treatment suggesting that Wee1 inhibitors are also anti-mitotic agents. We found that paclitaxel enhances MK-1775 mediated cell killing. HeLa and different breast cancer cell lines (T-47D, MCF7, MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-231) treated with different concentrations of MK-1775 and low dose paclitaxel exhibited reduced cell survival compared to mono-treatments. Our data highlight a new potential strategy for enhancing MK-1775 mediated cell killing in breast cancer cells.
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