Abstract 907: CD133 stimulates cell proliferationviaupregulation of amphiregulin in melanoma

Abstract

Abstract Melanoma, a malignant transformation of melanocytes, accounts for 90% of skin cancer deaths due to its ability to efficiently metastasize to other organs. CD133, also known as Prominin1, is a pentaspan glycosylated transmembrane protein that is overexpressed in cancer stem cells from various tumors, including melanoma, and has been associated with tumor recurrence, chemoresistance, and metastasis. To characterize and target CD133-positive cancer stem cells, patient-derived melanoma cell lines BAKP and POT, harboring BRAFWT/NRASQ61K and BRAFWT/NRASQ61R driver mutations, respectively, were co-transduced with a Tet activator (rtTA3) and a Tet-on vector expressing CD133 (TRE3G-CD133) to produce stable doxycycline (Dox)-inducible cell lines. These cell lines were exposed to Dox (1µg/mL) to induce CD133 expression for 24 h; mRNA was extracted and subjected to RNA-seq analysis, followed by bioinformatic analyses, which revealed genes that are significantly up- or down-regulated by Dox-induced CD133 expression. Among the most significantly altered genes was amphiregulin (AREG), which increased 7-fold with Dox induction. These results were validated in both BAKP and POT cell lines by qPCR and immunoblot analysis. AREG binds EGFR and activates RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways, leading to cell proliferation, survival, and migration. Consistently, cell cycle and cell growth analyses revealed that Dox-induced CD133 expression increases the percent of cells in S-phase of the cell cycle, leading to increased cell growth in BAKP cells. The role of CD133 in cell proliferation via AREG upregulation was further studied with immunofluorescent and flow cytometry analysis of proliferation markers PCNA, Ki67, as well as BrdU incorporation into newly synthesized DNA in Dox-induced BAKP cells, with or without siRNA knockdown of AREG. AREG may play an integral role in melanoma progression due to its vital function in cell proliferation, serving as an attractive target for novel therapeutics in melanoma and cancers exhibiting overexpression of both CD133 and AREG. Further studies using specific AREG inhibitors or RNAi knockdown in melanoma cell lines is currently ongoing, and can further elucidate molecular mechanisms highlighting the role(s) of CD133 and AREG in melanoma cancer stem cells. Citation Format: Cynthia M. Simbulan-Rosenthal, Nusrat Islam, Yoga Haribabu, Ryyan Alobaidi, Li-Wei Kuo, Azadeh Shalamzari, Adam Leibowitz, Joanna Moulton, Dean S. Rosenthal. CD133 stimulates cell proliferationviaupregulation of amphiregulin in melanoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 907.