Co-Targeting of JNK and HUNK in Resistant HER2-Positive Breast Cancer

Strategies for successful primary treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer include use of the HER2 inhibitors trastuzumab or lapatinib in combination with standard chemotherapy. While successful, many patients develop resistance to these HER2 inhibitors indicating an unmet need. Consequently, current research efforts are geared toward understanding mechanisms of resistance and the signaling modalities that regulate these mechanisms. We have undertaken a study to examine whether signaling molecules downstream of epidermal growth factor receptor, which often act as compensatory signaling outlets to circumvent HER2 inhibition, can be co-targeted to overcome resistance. We identified JNK signaling as a potential area of intervention and now show that inhibiting JNK using the pan-JNK inhibitor, SP600125, is effective in the HER2-positive, resistant JIMT-1 xenograft mammary tumor model. We also investigate potential combination strategies to bolster the effects of JNK inhibition and find that co-targeting of JNK and the protein kinase HUNK can prohibit tumor growth of resistant HER2-positive mammary tumors in vivo.