Publications

Integrin-α10 dependency identifies RAC and RICTOR as therapeutic targets in high-grade myxofibrosarcoma

Myxofibrosarcoma is a common mesenchymal malignancy with complex genomics and heterogeneous clinical outcomes. Through gene-expression profiling of 64 primary high-grade myxofibrosarcomas, we defined an expression signature associated with clinical outcome. The gene most significantly associated with disease-specific death and distant metastasis was ITGA10 (integrin-α10). Functional studies revealed that myxofibrosarcoma cells strongly depended on integrin-α10, whereas normal mesenchymal cells did not. Integrin-α10 transmitted its tumor-specific signal via TRIO and RICTOR, two oncoproteins that are frequently co-overexpressed through gene amplification on chromosome 5p. TRIO and RICTOR activated RAC/PAK and AKT/mTOR to promote sarcoma cell survival. Inhibition of these proteins with EHop-016 (RAC inhibitor) and INK128 (mTOR inhibitor) had anti-tumor effects in tumor-derived cell lines and mouse xenografts, and combining the drugs enhanced the effects. Our results demonstrate the importance of integrin-α10/TRIO/RICTOR signaling for driving myxofibrosarcoma progression and provide the basis for promising targeted treatment strategies for patients with high-risk disease.

Other Contributors

Tomoyo Okada1, Ann Y. Lee1, Li-Xuan Qin2, Narasimhan Agaram3, Takahiro Mimae1, Yawei Shen1, Rachael O’Connor1, Miguel A. López-Lago4, Amanda Craig1, Martin L. Miller5, Phaedra Agius1, Evan Molinelli5, Nicholas D. Socci5, Aimee M. Crago1, Fumi Shima6, Chris Sander5 and Samuel Singer1

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