ErbB3/ErbB2 complexes as a therapeutic target in a subset of wild-type BRAF/NRAS cutaneous melanomas.
By: Claudia Capparelli, Sheera Rosenbaum, Lisa D Berman-Booty, Amel Salhi, Nadege Gaborit, Tingting Zhan, Inna Chervoneva, Jason Roszik, Scott E Woodman, Michael A Davies, Yulius Y Setiady, Iman Osman, Yosef Yarden, Andrew E Aplin

Department of Cancer Biology, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University.
2015-7-25; doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-2959
Abstract

The treatment options remain limited for melanoma patients who are wild-type for both BRAF and NRAS (WT/WT). We demonstrate that a subgroup of WT/WT melanomas display high basal phosphorylation of ErbB3 that is associated with autocrine production of the ErbB3 ligand, neuregulin-1 (NRG1). In WT/WT melanoma cells displaying high levels of phospho-ErbB3, knockdown of NRG1 reduced cell viability and was associated with decreased phosphorylation of ErbB3, its co-receptor ErbB2 and its downstream target, AKT. Similar effects were observed by targeting ErbB3 with either small interfering RNAs or the neutralizing ErbB3 monoclonal antibodies, huHER3-8 and NG33. Additionally, pertuzumab-mediated inhibition of ErbB2 heterodimerization decreased AKT phosphorylation, cell growth in vitro and xenograft growth in vivo. Pertuzumab also potentiated the effects of MEK inhibitor on WT/WT melanoma growth in vitro and in vivo. These findings demonstrate that targeting ErbB3-ErbB2 signaling in a cohort of WT/WT melanomas leads to tumor growth reduction. Together these studies support the rationale to target the NRG1-ErbB3-ErbB2 axis as a novel treatment strategy in a subset of cutaneous melanomas.



Copyright © 2015, American Association for Cancer Research.

PMID:26206558






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