AbstractTargeting TEAD autopalmitoylation has been proposed as a therapeutic approach for YAP-dependent cancers. Here we show that TEAD palmitoylation inhibitor MGH-CP1 and analogues block cancer cell “stemness”, organ overgrowth and tumor initiation in vitro and in vivo. MGH-CP1 sensitivity correlates significantly with YAP-dependency in a large panel of cancer cell lines. However, TEAD inhibition or YAP/TAZ knockdown leads to transient inhibition of cell cycle progression without inducing cell death, undermining their potential therapeutic utilities. We further reveal that TEAD inhibition or YAP/TAZ silencing leads to VGLL3-mediated transcriptional activation of SOX4/PI3K/AKT signaling axis, which contributes to cancer cell survival and confers therapeutic resistance to TEAD inhibitors. Consistently, combination of TEAD and AKT inhibitors exhibits strong synergy in inducing cancer cell death. Our work characterizes the therapeutic opportunities and limitations of TEAD palmitoylation inhibitors in cancers, and uncovers an intrinsic molecular mechanism, which confers potential therapeutic resistance.
摘要靶向TEAD自棕榈酰化被认为是YAP依赖性癌症的一种治疗方法。在这里,我们发现TEAD棕榈酰化抑制剂MGH-CP1及其类似物能在体外和体内阻断癌细胞的 "干性"、器官过度生长和肿瘤的发生。在大量癌细胞系中,MGH-CP1的敏感性与YAP依赖性密切相关。然而,TEAD抑制或YAP/TAZ敲除会导致细胞周期进程的短暂抑制,而不会诱导细胞死亡,从而削弱了它们的潜在治疗作用。我们进一步发现,TEAD抑制或YAP/TAZ沉默会导致VGLL3介导的SOX4/PI3K/AKT信号轴转录激活,从而促进癌细胞存活,并赋予TEAD抑制剂治疗抗性。TEAD 和 AKT 抑制剂的组合在诱导癌细胞死亡方面表现出强大的协同作用。我们的研究揭示了 TEAD 棕榈酰化抑制剂在癌症中的治疗机会和局限性,并发现了导致潜在治疗耐药性的内在分子机制。