Ashenafi Bulle, Peng Liu, Kuljeet Seehra, Sapana Bansod, Yali Chen, Kiran Zahra, Vikas Somani, Iftikhar Ali Khawar, Hung-Po Chen, Paarth B Dodhiawala, Lin Li, Yutong Geng, Chia-Kuei Mo, Jay Mahsl, Li Ding, Ramaswamy Govindan, Sherri Davies, Jacqueline Mudd, William G Hawkins, Ryan C Fields, David G DeNardo, Deborah Knoerzer, Jason M Held, Patrick M Grierson, Andrea Wang-Gillam, Marianna B Ruzinova, Kian-Huat Lim
Targeting the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains clinically unsuccessful. We aim to develop a MAPK inhibitor-based therapeutic combination with strong preclinical efficacy. Utilizing a reverse-phase protein array, we observe rapid phospho-activation of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in PDAC cells upon pharmacological MAPK inhibition. Mechanistically, MAPK inhibitors lead to swift proteasomal degradation of dual-specificity phosphatase 6 (DUSP6)...
March 20, 2024: Nature Communications