YES1 Drives Lung Cancer Growth and Progression and Predicts Sensitivity to Dasatinib

Oct 1, 2019 | Magazine: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Irati Garmendia, María J Pajares, Francisco Hermida-Prado, Daniel Ajona, Cristina Bértolo, Cristina Sainz, Amaya Lavín, Ana B Remírez, Karmele Valencia, Haritz Moreno, Irene Ferrer, Carmen Behrens, Myriam Cuadrado, Luis Paz-Ares, Xosé R Bustelo, Ignacio Gil-Bazo, Daniel Alameda, Fernando Lecanda, Alfonso Calvo, Enriqueta Felip, Montse Sánchez-Céspedes, Ignacio I Wistuba, Rocio Granda-Diaz, Juan Pablo Rodrigo, Juana María García-Pedrero, Ruben Pio, Luis M Montuenga, Jackeline Agorreta

Rationale: The characterization of new genetic alterations is essential to assign effective personalized therapies in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Furthermore, finding stratification biomarkers is essential for successful personalized therapies. Molecular alterations of YES1, a member of the SRC (proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src) family kinases (SFKs), can be found in a significant subset of patients with lung cancer.

Objectives: To evaluate YES1 (v-YES-1 Yamaguchi sarcoma viral oncogene homolog 1) genetic alteration as a therapeutic target and predictive biomarker of response to dasatinib in NSCLC.

Methods: Functional significance was evaluated by in vivo models of NSCLC and metastasis and patient-derived xenografts. The efficacy of pharmacological and genetic (CRISPR [clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats]/Cas9 [CRISPR-associated protein 9]) YES1 abrogation was also evaluated. In vitro functional assays for signaling, survival, and invasion were also performed. The association between YES1 alterations and prognosis was evaluated in clinical samples.

Measurements and Main Results: We demonstrated that YES1 is essential for NSCLC carcinogenesis. Furthermore, YES1 overexpression induced metastatic spread in preclinical in vivo models. YES1 genetic depletion by CRISPR/Cas9 technology significantly reduced tumor growth and metastasis. YES1 effects were mainly driven by mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) signaling.

Interestingly, cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models with YES1 gene amplifications presented a high sensitivity to dasatinib, an SFK inhibitor, pointing out YES1 status as a stratification biomarker for dasatinib response. Moreover, high YES1 protein expression was an independent predictor for poor prognosis in patients with lung cancer.

Conclusions: YES1 is a promising therapeutic target in lung cancer. Our results provide support for the clinical evaluation of dasatinib treatment in a selected subset of patients using YES1 status as predictive biomarker for therapy.

CITATION Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019 Oct 1;200(7):888-899. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201807-1292OC.

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