The NEDD8-activating enzyme inhibitor MLN4924 induces DNA damage in Ph+ leukemia and sensitizes for ABL kinase inhibitors Mahnoush Bahjat Guus de Wilde Tijmen van Dam Chiel Maas Timon Bloedjes Richard J. Bende Carel J.M. van Noesel Dieuwertje M. Luijks Eric Eldering Marie José Kersten Jeroen E.J. Guikema 10.6084/m9.figshare.9119459.v2 https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/The_NEDD8-activating_enzyme_inhibitor_MLN4924_induces_DNA_damage_in_Ph_leukemia_and_sensitizes_for_ABL_kinase_inhibitors/9119459 <p>The <i>BCR-ABL1</i> fusion gene is the driver oncogene in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia-chromosome positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) targeting the ABL kinase (such as imatinib) has dramatically improved survival of CML and Ph+ ALL patients. However, primary and acquired resistance to TKIs remains a clinical challenge. Ph+ leukemia patients who achieve a complete cytogenetic (CCR) or deep molecular response (MR) (≥4.5log reduction in <i>BCR-ABL1</i> transcripts) represent long-term survivors. Thus, the fast and early eradication of leukemic cells predicts MR and is the prime clinical goal for these patients. We show here that the first-in-class inhibitor of the Nedd8-activating enzyme (NAE1) MLN4924 effectively induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in Ph+ leukemia cells, and sensitized leukemic cells for ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and hydroxyurea (HU). We demonstrate that MLN4924 induced DNA damage in Ph+ leukemia cells by provoking the activation of an intra S-phase checkpoint, which was enhanced by imatinib co-treatment. The combination of MLN4924 and imatinib furthermore triggered a dramatic shift in the expression of MCL1 and NOXA. Our data offers a clear rationale to explore the clinical activity of MLN4924 (alone and in combination with ABL TKI) in Ph+ leukemia patients</p> 2019-08-21 17:11:03 Neddylation DNA damage Ph+ leukemia