Cited by 1,460Melanoma and MAPK PathwaysProtein Kinase Regulation and GTPase SignalingProtein Tyrosine Phosphatases

COT drives resistance to RAF inhibition through MAP kinase pathway reactivation

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Johannessen, Cory M., Boehm, Jesse S., Kim, So Young, Thomas, Sapana R., Wardwell, Leslie, Johnson, Laura A., Emery, Caroline M., Stransky, Nicolas +27 more·2010·Nature

Abstract

Oncogenic mutations in the serine/threonine kinase B-RAF (also known as BRAF) are found in 50-70% of malignant melanomas. Pre-clinical studies have demonstrated that the B-RAF(V600E) mutation predicts a dependency on the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling cascade in melanoma-an observation that has been validated by the success of RAF and MEK inhibitors in clinical trials. However, clinical responses to targeted anticancer therapeutics are frequently confounded by de novo or acquired resistance. Identification of resistance mechanisms in a manner that elucidates alternative 'druggable' targets may inform effective long-term treatment strategies. Here we expressed ∼600 kinase and kinase-related open reading frames (ORFs) in parallel to interrogate resistance to a selective RAF kinase inhibitor. We identified MAP3K8 (the gene encoding COT/Tpl2) as a MAPK pathway agonist that drives resistance to RAF inhibition in B-RAF(V600E) cell lines. COT activates ERK primarily through MEK-dependent mechanisms that do not require RAF signalling. Moreover, COT expression is associated with de novo resistance in B-RAF(V600E) cultured cell lines and acquired resistance in melanoma cells and tissue obtained from relapsing patients following treatment with MEK or RAF inhibitors. We further identify combinatorial MAPK pathway inhibition or targeting of COT kinase activity as possible therapeutic strategies for reducing MAPK pathway activation in this setting. Together, these results provide new insights into resistance mechanisms involving the MAPK pathway and articulate an integrative approach through which high-throughput functional screens may inform the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

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  • BRAF inhibitors have proven ineffective as single agents due to adaptive feedback re-activation of the MAPK and other signaling pathways.

    “BRAF inhibitors have proven ineffective as single agents due to adaptive feedback re-activation of the MAPK and other signaling pathways [5–13, 38].”

    From Co-targeting SRC overcomes resistance to BRAF inhibitors in colorectal cancer (2025) · cites this paper as [13]

    The Abstract (page unavailable) says single-agent targeted therapy is often followed by relapse and identifies MAPK reactivation as a mechanism of RAF-inhibitor resistance. It also describes RAF inhibitors as successful in clinical trials, so it does not support calling them ineffective as single agents. The copy does not establish adaptive feedback reactivation of other signaling pathways as the cause. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Johannessen, C. M., Boehm, J. S., Kim, S. Y., Thomas, S. R., Wardwell, L., Johnson, L. A., Emery, C. M., Stransky, N., Cogdill, A. P., Barretina, J., Caponigro, G., Hieronymus, H., Murray, R. R., Salehi-Ashtiani, K., Hill, D. E., Vidal, M., Zhao, J. J., Yang, X., Alkan, O., Kim, S., Harris, J. L., Wilson, C. J., Myer, V. E., Finan, P. M., Root, D. E., Roberts, T. M., Golub, T., Flaherty, K. T., Dummer, R., Weber, B. L., Sellers, W. R., Schlegel, R., Wargo, J. A., Hahn, W. C., & Garraway, L. A.
Affiliations
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
  • Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (US)
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
  • University of Zurich (CH)
Corresponding author
Garraway, Levi A.
Venue
Nature
Published
2010-11-24
Volume
468
Issue
7326
Pages
968-972
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2141674733
Cited by
1,460
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 91 · 2018: 78 · 2017: 102 · 2016: 107 · 2015: 121 · 2014: 158 · 2013: 186 · 2012: 177
FWCI
65.49
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (DP2OD002750)
  • National Cancer Institute (RC2CA148268, R01CA134502, K08CA115927, CA134502, R33CA128625, P50CA093683)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Melanoma and MAPK Pathways
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Kinase Regulation and GTPase Signaling
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases
Keywords
MAP3K8, BRAF inhibitor resistance, vemurafenib, melanoma, BRAF V600E mutation, MAPK signaling
MeSH terms
Vemurafenib, Allosteric Regulation, Clinical Trials as Topic, Enzyme Activation, Humans, Indoles, Melanoma, Proto-Oncogene Proteins, Sulfonamides, Gene Library, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Open Reading Frames, Drug Resistance, Neoplasm, Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf, Gene Expression Profiling, Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases, Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases, MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases, MAP Kinase Signaling System, Cell Line, Tumor, Protein Kinase Inhibitors, Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf

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