Targeting Aurora A kinase activity with the investigational agent alisertib increases the efficacy of cytarabine through a FOXO-dependent mechanism

• Published in: International journal of cancer Vol. 131; no. 11; pp. 2693 - 2703
• Main Authors: Kelly, Kevin R., Nawrocki, Steffan T., Espitia, Claudia M., Zhang, Mengkun, Yang, Johnny J., Padmanabhan, Swaminathan, Ecsedy, Jeffrey, Giles, Francis J., Carew, Jennifer S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.12.2012; Wiley-Blackwell; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: acute myeloid leukemia; Animals; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - pharmacology; apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins - metabolism; Aurora Kinase A; Aurora Kinases; Azepines - pharmacology; Bcl-2-Like Protein 11; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Cell Cycle - drug effects; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; Chemotherapy; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27 - metabolism; cytarabine; Cytarabine - pharmacology; Drug Synergism; Female; Forkhead Box Protein O3; Forkhead Transcription Factors - metabolism; FOXO; Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases; HL-60 Cells; Humans; Kinases; Leukemia; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - drug therapy; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - enzymology; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - metabolism; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - pathology; Leukemias. Malignant lymphomas. Malignant reticulosis. Myelofibrosis; Medical research; Medical sciences; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Mice; Mice, SCID; Molecular Targeted Therapy; Protein Kinase Inhibitors - pharmacology; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - antagonists & inhibitors; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - metabolism; Pyrimidines - pharmacology; Tumors; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays; Antineoplastic agent; FOXO; Acute myelogenous leukemia; Targeting; Treatment efficiency; Malignant hemopathy; Aurora kinase; Serine/threonine-protein kinase 6; Biological activity; Mechanism; Cancerology; Cytarabine; Antimetabolic; acute myeloid leukemia; Cell death; Transcription factor FOXO; Pyrimidine nucleoside; Aurora kinase A; Cancer; Apoptosis
• ISSN: 0020-7136; 1097-0215
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.27579

Novel therapies are urgently needed to improve clinical outcomes for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The investigational drug alisertib (MLN8237) is a novel Aurora A kinase inhibitor being studied in multiple Phase I and II studies. We investigated the preclinical efficacy and pharmacodynamics of alisertib in AML cell lines, primary AML cells and mouse models of AML. Here, we report that alisertib disrupted cell viability, diminished clonogenic survival, induced expression of the FOXO3a targets p27 and BIM and triggered apoptosis. A link between Aurora A expression and sensitivity to ara‐C was established, suggesting that Aurora A inhibition may be a promising strategy to increase the efficacy of ara‐C. Accordingly, alisertib significantly potentiated the antileukemic activity of ara‐C in both AML cell lines and primary blasts. Targeted FOXO3a knockdown significantly blunted the pro‐apoptotic effects of the alisertib/ara‐C combination, indicating that it is an important regulator of sensitivity to these agents. In vivo studies demonstrated that alisertib significantly augmented the efficacy of ara‐C without affecting its pharmacokinetic profile and led to the induction of p27 and BIM. Our collective data indicate that targeting Aurora A with alisertib represents a novel approach to increase the efficacy of ara‐C that warrants further investigation.