Phenotypic Consequences of <i>SLC25A40-ABCB1</i> Fusions beyond Drug Resistance in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
Despite high response rates to initial chemotherapy, the majority of women diagnosed with High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (HGSOC) ultimately develop drug resistance within 1–2 years of treatment. We previously identified the most common mechanism of acquired resistance in HGSOC to date, transcripti...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Language: | EN |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doaj.org/article/91d80e9c900e4f8aad1cb5d9d14cd353 |
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| Summary: | Despite high response rates to initial chemotherapy, the majority of women diagnosed with High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (HGSOC) ultimately develop drug resistance within 1–2 years of treatment. We previously identified the most common mechanism of acquired resistance in HGSOC to date, transcriptional fusions involving the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter <i>ABCB1</i>, which has well established roles in multidrug resistance. However, the underlying biology of fusion-positive cells, as well as how clonal interactions between fusion-negative and positive populations influences proliferative fitness and therapeutic response remains unknown. Using a panel of fusion-negative and positive HGSOC single-cell clones, we demonstrate that in addition to mediating drug resistance, <i>ABCB1</i> fusion-positive cells display impaired proliferative capacity, elevated oxidative metabolism, altered actin cellular morphology and an extracellular matrix/inflammatory enriched transcriptional profile. The co-culture of fusion-negative and positive populations had no effect on cellular proliferation but markedly altered drug sensitivity to doxorubicin, paclitaxel and cisplatin. Finally, high-throughput screening of 2907 FDA-approved compounds revealed 36 agents that induce equal cytotoxicity in both pure and mixed <i>ABCB1</i> fusion populations. Collectively, our findings have unraveled the underlying biology of <i>ABCB1</i> fusion-positive cells beyond drug resistance and identified novel therapeutic agents that may significantly improve the prognosis of relapsed HGSOC patients. |
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