Abstract B018: MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitors selectively modulate RNA splicing in MTAP-deleted cancer cells across histologies

Abstract

Abstract PRMT5 is a type II arginine methyltransferase that forms an active complex with methylosome protein 50 (MEP50) to catalyze the symmetric dimethylation (SDMA) of arginine residues in proteins that regulate biological roles including modulation of apoptosis, DNA damage response and RNA processing. Some of the best characterized PRMT5 substrates are SNRPB, SNRPD1 and SNRPD3, which are necessary for the formation of the spliceosome and therefore RNA splicing fidelity. The development of MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitors, including the clinical stage inhibitors TNG908 and TNG462, have been shown in preclinical studies to selectively inhibit PRMT5 in MTAP-deleted cancer cells while sparing normal, MTAP-intact cells. Consistent with this selective, on-target mechanism, treatment with TNG908 in preclinical studies results in increased aberrant RNA splicing in MTAP-deleted cells relative to MTAP-intact cells. As MTAP loss occurs in 10-15% of all human cancer, the identification of a signature of alternative splicing events may report pharmacodynamic activity of PRMT5 inhibitors and potentially predict patient response. Similar splicing alterations caused by PRMT5 inhibition were identified in preclinical MTAP-deleted cancer models representing glioblastoma, non-small cell lung cancer, among others, suggesting the events are histology-agnostic. Additionally, titration of exogenous MTA, an endogenous inhibitor of PRMT5, recapitulated the observed splicing events in preclinical MTAP-proficient cells. Similar findings were observed utilizing a pharmacological inhibitor of MTAP suggesting that the identified alternative splicing events are dependent on accumulation of MTA. Collectively, these data suggest that a PRMT5-dependent RNA splicing signature can be developed to identify solid tumors that may best respond to MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitors as well as monitor their pharmacodynamic activity. Citation Format: Matthew R Tonini, Samuel R Meier, Shangtao Liu, Kevin M Cottrell, John P Maxwell, Jannik N Andersen, Alan Huang, Luisa Cimmino, Kimberly J Briggs. MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitors selectively modulate RNA splicing in MTAP-deleted cancer cells across histologies [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC Virtual International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2023 Oct 11-15; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2023;22(12 Suppl):Abstract nr B018.