Scientists at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have identified an enzyme responsible for making tumors and cancer cell lines resistant to cisplatin, along with an experimental drug that targets that enzyme. Their study (“ MAST1 Drives Cisplatin Resistance in Human Cancers by Rewiring cRaf-Independent MEK Activation ”) appears in Cancer Cell . “Platinum-based chemotherapeutics represent a mainstay of cancer therapy, but resistance limits their curative potential. Through a kinome RNAi screen, we identified microtubule-associated serine/threonine kinase 1 (MAST1) as a main driver of cisplatin resistance in human cancers. Mechanistically, cisplatin but no other DNA-damaging agents inhibit the MAPKpathway by dissociating cRaf from MEK1, while MAST1 replaces cRaf to reactivate the MAPK pathway in a cRaf-independent manner. We show clinical evidence that expression of MAST1, both initial and cisplatin-induced, contributes to platinum resistance and worse clinical outcome,” write the investigators. “Targeting MAST1 with lestaurtinib, a recently identified MAST1 inhibitor, restores cisplatin sensitivity, leading to the synergistic attenuation ...
Original Article: Enzyme Identified that Helps Make Cancer Resistant to Cisplatin