Title:Hypersensitivity to Aurora Kinase Inhibitors in Cells Resistant against Platinum- Containing Anticancer Agents
Volume: 14
Issue: 7
Author(s): Masaki Akiyama, Hiroto Izumi, Ke-Yong Wang, Takahiro Yamaguchi, Akihiro Kuma, Noriaki Kitamura, Yoshikazu Harada, Ryoichi Oya, Koji Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Iwai and Kimitoshi Kohno
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Acquired drug resistance, addiction, AURKB, AURKB inhibitor, cisplatin, oxaliplatin.
Abstract: The aurora kinases are serine/threonine kinases that are essential for mitosis and contribute to tumorigenesis. Therefore, aurora
kinases hold promise for molecularly targeted therapy. In the present study, we demonstrated that aurora B kinase (AURKB) is
overexpressed in both cisplatin- and oxaliplatin-resistant cells. Downregulation of AURKB sensitized cells to both cisplatin and
oxaliplatin, but not to paclitaxel, 5-FU or hydrogen peroxide. Interestingly, we found that both cisplatin- and oxaliplatin-resistant cells
were hypersensitive to the AURKB specific inhibitors, AZD1152 HQPA and ZM447439, suggesting that both cisplatin- and oxaliplatinresistant
cells develop an addiction to AURKB. These data provide evidence that aurora kinase inhibitors can overcome both cisplatin
and oxaliplatin resistance. Therefore, AURKB inhibitors could offer potential benefits if used after first-line platinum-based
chemotherapy.