T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patients with Mutations in IL7Ra or Downstream RAS-MEK or PI3K-AKT Can be Collectively Targeted By Combination of RAS and AKT Inhibitors

Background: 

Pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients  frequently harbor mutations in IL7Ra or downstream molecules encoded by JAK1, JAK3, N-RAS, K-RAS, NF1, AKT, and PTEN. These mutated signaling molecules can contribute to leukemia by disturbing a multitude of cellular processes such as the cell cycle, epigenetics, apoptosis, or affecting other important signal transduction pathways.

Aims: 

We aimed to determine the overall incidence of mutations in IL7Ra and downstream signaling components in a large cohort of pediatric T-ALL patients. In order to find better treatment options for patients with these mutations, we analyzed the effect of selected IL7Ra-pathway inhibitors—individually and in combinations—on downstream signaling and cytotoxicity in Ba/F3 cells expressing each of the mutations.

Methods: 

We sequenced 146 pediatric T-ALL patient samples for mutations in the FERM, pseudokinase and kinase domains of the Janus kinase gene family (JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, TYK2) and hotspot regions of N-RAS and K-RAS. We adapted the IL3-dependent Ba/F3 cell line to express mutant or wild type genes upon induction by doxycycline and assessed cell viability and signaling in the absence of IL3. Various IL7Ra-pathway inhibitors were tested using this system, and the synergy of combined inhibitors was determined by comparing the dose-response curve of different ratios of IC₅₀-based inhibitor concentrations to the curves for each of the single inhibitors. The Combination Index was calculated using Calcusyn™ software.

Results: 

IL7Ra, JAK, RAS, AKT and PTEN mutations are present in approximately 45% of patients and occur in a predominantly mutually exclusive fashion, suggesting they share aberrant activation of similar downstream targets. We found JAK1, JAK3 and RAS mutations as previously reported, but also identified new JAK1 mutations including V427M, L624YPILKV, E668Q, P815S, and T901G. A novel three-dimensional model of JAK1 reveals that mutations in JAK molecules affect important amino acids that are involved in the interaction between the pseudokinase and kinase domains, facilitating constitutive kinase activity. In our doxycycline-inducible IL3-dependent Ba/F3 system, expression of mutant genes—in contrast to the wild type genes—transforms Ba/F3 cells by supporting IL3-independent growth through activation of the RAS-MEK-ERK and PI3K-AKT pathways. We used this system to test the sensitivity to pharmacological inhibitors; IL7Ra and JAK mutant Ba/F3 cells are sensitive to JAK inhibition, so JAK inhibitors such as ruxolitinib may offer therapeutic potential for IL7Ra, JAK1 or most JAK3 mutated T-ALL patients. The RAS and AKT mutants respond to RAS-MEK and PI3K-AKT-mTOR inhibition, respectively, but are—as expected—insensitive to JAK inhibition. Remarkably, IL7Ra and JAK mutants are relatively resistant to downstream RAS-MEK-ERK or PI3K-AKT-mTOR inhibition, indicating that inhibiting just one of these downstream pathways is insufficient. We provide evidence of (cross-)activation of the alternate pathway when one of these pathways is inhibited. Combined inhibition of MEK and PI3K/AKT synergistically prevents proliferation of the IL7Ra- and JAK-mutants by efficiently blocking both downstream signaling pathways. Furthermore, this combined inhibition is cytotoxic in two out of five tested primary T-ALL specimens.

Summary/Conclusion: 

We show that the combined inhibition of MEK and PI3K/AKT leads to strong and synergistic cytotoxic effects in the IL7Ra and JAK mutants and efficiently blocks signaling downstream of both pathways. This inhibitor combination is effective in two out of five primary T-ALL samples. Therefore, the cytotoxic effects of synergistic MEK and PI3K/AKT inhibition should be further explored as a therapeutic option for (relapsed) ALL patients.