BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Mucosal melanoma (MM) is a poorly responsive, rare and aggressive subtype with paucity of targetable recurrent driver mutations, although Ras/MAPK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway activations are common. Eventual tumor evasion of targeted therapy continues to limit treatment success. Adequate models are necessary to address therapeutic resistance. The relatively greater incidence of naturally occurring MM in dogs, as well as its comparable clinical and pathological characteristics to human MM, represents a promising opportunity for predictive patient modeling. Resistance-promoting crosstalk between Ras/MAPK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling under trametinib inhibition of MEK was studied in a canine MM model. Emphasis was placed on the suppressive effect of trametinib on cell cycle entry and its potential role in drug resistance.

METHODS

D-type cyclins were investigated using five MM cell lines exhibiting differential sensitivities to trametinib. Drug-treated cells were analyzed for signaling pathway activation, proliferation, survival, cell death, and cell cycle in the context of D-type cyclin expression. Cyclin D2 expression was manipulated using siRNA knock down or inducible recombinant overexpression.

RESULTS

With diminished cyclin D1 under trametinib treatment, relatively trametinib-resistant MM cells exhibited capacity to upregulate cyclin D2, which promoted proliferation, whereas sensitive cells did not similarly respond. Inhibition of the compensatory cyclin D2 response restored sensitivity to resistant cells. Induced cyclin D2 overexpression promoted survival to otherwise trametinib-sensitive MM cells that did not exhibit capacity to upregulate endogenous cyclin D2. PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling upregulation under trametinib was suppressed by mTORC1/2 inhibition, which similarly diminished cyclin D2 response.

CONCLUSION

The compensatory switch from preferential reliance on cyclin D1 to D2 appears to play a role in MM resistance to MEK inhibition.