Phosphorylation of SHP2 at Tyr62 enables acquired resistance to SHP2 allosteric inhibitors in FLT3-ITD-driven AML

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The protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 is crucial for oncogenic transformation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells expressing mutated receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK). SHP2 is required for full RAS-ERK activation to promote cell proliferation and survival programs. Allosteric SHP2 inhibitors act by stabilizing SHP2 in its auto-inhibited conformation and are currently being tested in clinical trials for tumors with overactivation of the RAS/ERK pathway, alone and in various drug combinations. In this study, we established cells with acquired resistance to the allosteric SHP2 inhibitor SHP099 from two FLT3-ITD-positive AML cell lines. Label-free and isobaric labeling quantitative mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics of these resistant models demonstrated that AML cells can restore phosphorylated ERK (pERK) in the presence of SHP099, thus developing adaptive resistance. Mechanistically, SHP2 inhibition induced tyrosine phosphorylation and feedback-driven activation of the FLT3 receptor, which in turn phosphorylated SHP2 on tyrosine 62. This phosphorylation stabilized SHP2 in its open conformation, preventing SHP099 binding and conferring resistance. Combinatorial inhibition of SHP2 and MEK or FLT3 prevented pERK rebound and resistant cell growth. The same mechanism was observed in a FLT3-mutated B-ALL cell line and in the inv(16)/KitD816Y AML mouse model, but allosteric inhibition of Shp2 did not impair the clonogenic ability of normal bone marrow progenitors. Together, these results support the future use of SHP2 inhibitor combinations for clinical applications.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCancer Research
Volume82
Issue number11
Pages (from-to)2141-2155
Number of pages15
ISSN0008-5472
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

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