A study of PD-L1 expression in KRAS mutant non-small cell lung cancer cell lines exposed to relevant targeted treatments

PLoS One. 2017 Oct 5;12(10):e0186106. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186106. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

We investigated PD-L1 changes in response to MEK and AKT inhibitors in KRAS mutant lung adenocarcinoma (adeno-NSCLC). PD-L1 expression was quantified using immunofluorescence and co-culture with a jurkat cell-line transfected with NFAT-luciferase was used to study if changes in PD-L1 expression in cancer cell lines were functionally relevant. Five KRAS mutant cell lines with high PD-L1 expression (H441, H2291, H23, H2030 and A549) were exposed to GI50 inhibitor concentrations of a MEK inhibitor (trametinib) and an AKT inhibitor (AZD5363) for 3 weeks. Only 3/5 (H23, H2030 and A549) and 2/5 cell lines (H441 and H23) showed functionally significant increases in PD-L1 expression when exposed to trametinib or AZD5363 respectively. PD-L1 overexpression is not consistent and is unlikely to be an early mechanism of resistance to KRAS mutant adeno-NSCLC treated with MEK or AKT inhibitors.

MeSH terms

  • B7-H1 Antigen / metabolism*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / drug therapy
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / metabolism*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / pathology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Coculture Techniques
  • Genes, ras*
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Lung Neoplasms / genetics
  • Lung Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Mutation*

Substances

  • B7-H1 Antigen
  • CD274 protein, human