Abstract
Colon cancer is the most aggressive tumor in both men and women globally. As many the chemotherapeutic regimens have adverse side effects and contribute to the resistance and recurrence, therefore, finding novel therapeutic targets and developing effective agents are urgent. Based on the TCGA and GTEx database analysis, RSK1 and MSK2 were found abnormal expressed in colon cancer. RSK1 and MSK2 were overexpressed in colon cancer tissues confirmed by western blot and IHC. After knocking down RSK1 or MSK2, cell proliferation and anchorage-independent cell growth were markedly inhibited. Using a computer docking model, we identified a novel dual-target inhibitor, APIO-EE-07, that could block both RSK1 and MSK2 kinase activity in a dose-dependent manner. APIO-EE-07 inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis and also increased expression of Bax as well as cleaved caspase-3 and -PARP in colon cancer cells by downregulating RSK1 and MSK2 downstream targets, including CREB and ATF1. Furthermore, APIO-EE-07 decreased tumor volume and weight in human patient-derived xenografts tumors implanted in SCID mice. In summary, our results demonstrate that RSK1 and MSK2 are the potential targets for the treatment of colon cancer. APIO-EE-07, a novel dual-target inhibitor of RSK1 and MSK2, can suppress the growth of colon cancer by attenuating RSK1 and MSK2 signaling.
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Funding
This work was supported by the Key Science and Technology Program of Henan Province, China (182102310125) and the Key program of TCM research in Henan Province, China (2018ZY1016, 2019ZY1037).
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GJ, KY, ZG, and ZD designed this study. GJ, MY, and KL performed the experiment, analyzed data, and prepared figures. KD and DG synthesis chemicals. HC contributed to computational analysis. KL analyzed of GEPIA database. ZJ and YY performed some explements. GJ wrote paper and ZD revised the paper.
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Jin, G., Yan, M., Liu, K. et al. Discovery of a novel dual-target inhibitor against RSK1 and MSK2 to suppress growth of human colon cancer. Oncogene 39, 6733–6746 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-020-01467-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-020-01467-w
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