Geranylgeranyltransferase I inhibitor GGTI-2154 induces breast carcinoma apoptosis and tumor regression in H-Ras transgenic mice

J Sun, J Ohkanda, D Coppola, H Yin, M Kothare… - Cancer research, 2003 - AACR
J Sun, J Ohkanda, D Coppola, H Yin, M Kothare, B Busciglio, AD Hamilton, SM Sebti
Cancer research, 2003AACR
Abstract Treatment of H-Ras transgenic mice with the geranylgeranyltransferase I (GGTase
I) inhibitor GGTI-2154 results not only in halting the growth of aggressive breast tumors but
actually in inducing the regression (54±3%) of all 19 tumors analyzed. The
farnesyltransferase (FTase) inhibitor FTI-2148 induced an average of 87±3% regression in
the 13 tumors analyzed. GGTase I, but not FTase, is inhibited in breast tumors after treatment
with GGTI-2154, whereas in tumors from mice treated with FTI-2148, only FTase is inhibited …
Abstract
Treatment of H-Ras transgenic mice with the geranylgeranyltransferase I (GGTase I) inhibitor GGTI-2154 results not only in halting the growth of aggressive breast tumors but actually in inducing the regression (54 ± 3%) of all 19 tumors analyzed. The farnesyltransferase (FTase) inhibitor FTI-2148 induced an average of 87 ± 3% regression in the 13 tumors analyzed. GGTase I, but not FTase, is inhibited in breast tumors after treatment with GGTI-2154, whereas in tumors from mice treated with FTI-2148, only FTase is inhibited. The processing of the geranylgeranylated proteins RhoA, Rap1, and R-Ras, but not the farnesylated proteins H-Ras and HDJ-2, is inhibited in tumors obtained from mice treated with GGTI-2154. GGTI-2154 and FTI-2148 suppress constitutively activated phospho-Erk1/2 and phospho-Akt, induce apoptosis, and induce differentiation toward ductolobular breast epithelium. The data demonstrate that geranylgeranylated proteins are critical in H-Ras oncogenesis in vivo and give strong support for GGTase I as a target for anticancer drug discovery.
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