Killing of Kras mutant colon cancer cells via Rac-independent actin remodeling by the βGBP cytokine a physiological PI3K inhibitor therapeutically effective in vivo.

Activating mutations in Kras are the most frequent mutations in human cancer. They define a subset of patients who do not respond to current therapies and for whom prognosis is poor. Oncogenic Kras has been shown to deregulate numerous signalling pathways of which the most intensively studied are the Ras-ERK cascade and the PI3K-Akt cascade. However, to date there are no effective targeted therapies in the clinic against Kras-mutant cancers. Here we report that the βGBP cytokine, a physiological inhibitor of class I PI3Ks is a potent activator of apoptosis in Kras-mutant colorectal cancer cells, even when co-harboring mutant-activated PIK3CA. Our study unveils an elective route to intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis which involves the cytoskeleton. Early events are inhibition of PI3K activity and Rac-independent actin rearrangement assignable to phosphoinositide changes at the plasma membrane. Cyclin E deregulation, arrest of DNA synthesis and Chk2 activation underscore events critical to the activation of an intrinsic apoptotic program. Clustering of CD95/Fas death receptors underscore events critical to the activation of extrinsic apoptosis. In nude mice we present the first evidence that xenograft tumor development is strongly inhibited by Hu-r-βGBP. Taken together our results open a new therapeutic opportunity against a subset of patients refractive to current treatments. This first demonstration of therapeutic efficacy against Kras-mutant colon cancer suggests that Hu-r-βGBP may also be therapeutically effective against other cancers harbouring activating Ras mutations as well as PIK3CA mutations.