LNS8801 does not inhibit AML in systemic in vivo model (A) Proliferation assay of luciferase-expressing MV4-11 (MV4-11-Luc) cells. Cells were incubated for 72 hours and were counted with trypan blue dye. 5 replicates were used for experiment. P-values were calculated via pairwise t-tests (*p=<0.05, **p=<0.01, ***p=<0.001, ****p=<0.0001). (B) Systemic in vivo experiment done with MV4-11-Luc. Male NSG mice were used for the experiment. Mice were treated with vehicle or LNS8801 daily through oral gavage. 3 animals were used per condition.
ARTICLE ABSTRACT
Despite recent therapeutic advances, the 5-year survival rate for adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is poor and standard of care chemotherapy is associated with significant toxicity, highlighting the need for new therapeutic approaches. Recent work from our group and others established that the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) is tumor suppressive in melanoma and other solid tumors. We performed a preliminary screen of human cancer cell lines from multiple malignancies and found that LNS8801, a synthetic pharmacologic agonist of GPER currently in early phase clinical trials, promoted apoptosis in human AML cells. Using human AML cell lines and primary cells, we show that LNS8801 inhibits human AML in preclinical in vitro models, while not affecting normal mononuclear cells. Although GPER is broadly expressed in normal and malignant myeloid cells, this cancer specific LNS8801-induced inhibition appeared to be independent of GPER signaling. LNS8801 induced AML cell death primarily through a caspase dependent apoptosis pathway. This was independent of secreted classical death receptor ligands, and instead required induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response pathways including IRE1a. These studies demonstrate a novel activity of LNS8801 in AML cells and show that targeting ER stress with LNS8801 may be a useful therapeutic approach for AML.
