The p53 transcription factor is a critical barrier to pancreatic cancer progression. To unravel mechanisms of p53-mediated tumor suppression, which have remained elusive, we analyzed pancreatic cancer development in mice expressing p53 transcriptional activation domain (TAD) mutants. Surprisingly, the p5353,54 TAD2 mutant behaves as a "super-tumor suppressor," with an enhanced capacity to both suppress pancreatic cancer and transactivate select p53 target genes, including Ptpn14. Ptpn14 encodes a negative regulator of the Yap oncoprotein and is necessary and sufficient for pancreatic cancer suppression, like p53. We show that p53 deficiency promotes Yap signaling and that PTPN14 and TP53 mutations are mutually exclusive in human cancers. These studies uncover a p53-Ptpn14-Yap pathway that is integral to p53-mediated tumor suppression.

Expression of the chromatin-associated protein HMGA2 correlates with progression, metastasis and therapy resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Hmga2 has also been identified as a marker of a transient subpopulation of PDAC cells that has increased metastatic ability. Here, we characterize the requirement for Hmga2 during growth, dissemination, and metastasis of PDAC in vivo using conditional inactivation of Hmga2 in well-established autochthonous mouse models of PDAC. Overall survival, primary tumour burden, presence of disseminated tumour cells in the peritoneal cavity or circulating tumour cells in the blood, and presence and number of metastases were not significantly different between mice with Hmga2-wildtype or Hmga2-deficient tumours. Treatment of mice with Hmga2-wildtype and Hmga2-deficient tumours with gemcitabine did not uncover a significant impact of Hmga2-deficiency on gemcitabine sensitivity. Hmga1 and Hmga2 overlap in their expression in both human and murine PDAC, however knockdown of Hmga1 in Hmga2-deficient cancer cells also did not decrease metastatic ability. Thus, Hmga2 remains a prognostic marker which identifies a metastatic cancer cell state in primary PDAC, however Hmga2 has limited if any direct functional impact on PDAC progression and therapy resistance.

Using a luciferase reporter-based high-throughput chemical library screen and topological data analysis, we identified N-acridine-9-yl-N',N'-dimethylpropane-1,3-diamine (DAPA) as an inhibitor of the inositol requiring kinase 1α (IRE1α)-X-box binding protein-1 (XBP1) pathway of the unfolded protein response. We designed a collection of analogues based on the structure of DAPA to explore structure-activity relationships and identified N(9)-(3-(dimethylamino)propyl)-N(3),N(3),N(6),N(6)-tetramethylacridine-3,6,9-triamine (3,6-DMAD), with 3,6-dimethylamino substitution on the chromophore, as a potent inhibitor. 3,6-DMAD inhibited both IRE1α oligomerization and in vitro endoribonuclease (RNase) activity, whereas the other analogues only blocked IRE1α oligomerization. Consistent with the inhibition of IRE1α-mediated XBP1 splicing, which is critical for multiple myeloma cell survival, these analogues were cytotoxic to multiple myeloma cell lines. Furthermore, 3,6-DMAD inhibited XBP1 splicing in vivo and the growth of multiple myeloma tumor xenografts. Our study not only confirmed the utilization of topological data analysis in drug discovery but also identified a class of compounds with a unique mechanism of action as potent IRE1α-XBP1 inhibitors in the treatment of multiple myeloma. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(9); 2055-65. ©2016 AACR.