KLF6-SV1 is a novel antiapoptotic protein that targets the BH3-only protein NOXA for degradation and whose inhibition extends survival in an ovarian cancer model

Cancer Res. 2009 Jun 1;69(11):4733-41. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-4282. Epub 2009 May 12.

Abstract

Defects in apoptosis are not only a hallmark of cancer initiation and progression but can also underlie the development of chemoresistance. How the tightly regulated cascade of protein-protein interactions between members of three competing protein families regulating the apoptotic cascade is subverted in tumor cells is incompletely understood. Here, we show that KLF6-SV1, whose overexpression is associated with poor survival in several different cancers and is an alternatively spliced isoform of the Krüppel-like tumor suppressor KLF6, is a critical prosurvival/antiapoptotic protein. KLF6-SV1 binds the proapoptotic BH3-only protein NOXA, which results in their mutual HDM2-dependent degradation. In turn, this increases the intracellular concentration of the prosurvival binding partner of NOXA, Mcl-1, and effectively blocks apoptosis. In an ovarian cancer model, systemically delivered small interfering RNA against KLF6-SV1 induces spontaneous apoptosis of tumor cells, decreases tumor burden, and restores cisplatin sensitivity in vivo. Moreover, i.p. delivery of siKLF6-SV1 RNA halts ovarian tumor progression and improves median and overall survival (progression-free for >15 months; P < 0.0002) in mice in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, KLF6-SV1 represents a novel regulator of protein interactions in the apoptotic cascade and a therapeutically targetable control point.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / metabolism
  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / physiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Kruppel-Like Factor 6
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / physiology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Nude
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / mortality
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational*
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / metabolism
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / physiology*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / chemistry
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / metabolism*
  • RNA, Small Interfering / therapeutic use*
  • Survival Analysis
  • Time Factors
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins
  • KLF6 protein, human
  • Kruppel-Like Factor 6
  • Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors
  • PMAIP1 protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
  • RNA, Small Interfering