Cun Tan

Novel PARP1/2 inhibitor mefuparib hydrochloride elicits potent in vitro and in vivo anticancer activity, characteristic of high tissue distribution.

The approval of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor AZD2281 in 2014 marked the successful establishment of the therapeutic strategy targeting homologous recombination repair defects of cancers in the clinic. However, AZD2281 has poor water solubility, low tissue distribution and relatively weak in vivo anticancer activity, which appears to become limiting factors for its clinical use. In this study, we found that mefuparib hydrochloride (MPH) was a potent PARP inhibitor, possessing prominent in vitro and in vivo anticancer activity. Notably, MPH displayed high water solubility (> 35 mg/ml) and potent PARP1/2 inhibition in a substrate-competitive manner. It reduced poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) formation, enhanced γH2AX levels, induced G2/M arrest and subsequent apoptosis in homologous recombination repair (HR)-deficient cells. Proof-of-concept studies confirmed the MPH-caused synthetic lethality. MPH showed potent in vitro and in vivo proliferation and growth inhibition against HR-deficient cancer cells and synergistic sensitization of HR-proficient xenografts to the anticancer drug temozolomide. A good relationship between the anticancer activity and the PARP inhibition of MPH suggested that PAR formation and γH2AX accumulation could serve as its pharmacodynamic biomarkers. Its high bioavailability (40%~100%) and high tissue distribution in both monkeys and rats were its most important pharmacokinetic features. Its average concentrations were 33-fold higher in the tissues than in the plasma in rats. Our work supports the further clinical development of MPH as a novel PARP1/2 inhibitor for cancer therapy.

Decrease in phosphorylated ERK indicates the therapeutic efficacy of a clinical PI3Kα-selective inhibitor CYH33 in breast cancer

PI3Ks are frequently hyper-activated in breast cancer and targeting PI3Kα has exhibited promising but variable response in preclinical and clinical settings. CYH33 is a novel PI3Kα-selective inhibitor in phase I clinical trial. We investigated the efficacy of CYH33 against breast cancer and explored potential predictive biomarkers. CYH33 potently restrained tumor growth in mice bearing human breast cancer cell xenografts and in R26-Pik3caH1047R;MMTV-Cre transgenic mice. CYH33 significantly inhibited proliferation of a panel of human breast cancer cells, while diversity in sensitivity has been observed. Cells harboring activating PIK3CA mutation, amplified HER2 were more responsive to CYH33 than their counterparts. Besides, cells in HER2-enriched or luminal subtype were more sensitive to CYH33 than basal-like breast cancer. Sensitivity to CYH33 has been further revealed to be associated with induction of G1 phase arrest and simultaneous inhibition of Akt and ERK. Sensitivity of patient-derived xenograft to CYH33 was also positively correlated with decrease in phosphorylated ERK. Taken together, CYH33 is a promising PI3Kα inhibitor for breast cancer treatment and decrease in ERK phosphorylation may indicate its efficacy, which provides useful clues for rational design of the ongoing clinical trials.