TNIK inhibition abrogates colorectal cancer stemness
Nature Communications - A team of Japanese researchers published on Nature Communications the discovery of a new drug. This medication, only tested on animals, inhibits TNIK protein and acts on cancer stem cells preventing the formation of colon tumors.
TNIK inhibition abrogates colorectal cancer stemness
Authors: Mari Masuda, Yuko Uno, Naomi Ohbayashi, Hirokazu Ohata, Ayako Mimata, Mutsuko Kukimoto-Niino, Hideki Moriyama, Shigeki Kashimoto, Tomoko Inoue, Naoko Goto, Koji Okamoto, Mikako Shirouzu, Masaaki Sawa, Tesshi Yamada.
Nature Communications 7, Article number: 12586 doi:10.1038/ncomms 12586. Published: 26 August 2016.
Abstract:
Canonical Wnt/β-catenin signalling is essential for maintaining intestinal stem cells, and its constitutive activation has been implicated in colorectal carcinogenesis. We and others have previously identified Traf2- and Nck-interacting kinase (TNIK) as an essential regulatory component of the T-cell factor-4 and β-catenin transcriptional complex. Consistent with this, Tnik-deficient mice are resistant to azoxymethane-induced colon tumorigenesis, and Tnik−/−/Apcmin/+mutant mice develop significantly fewer intestinal tumours. Here we report the first orally available small-molecule TNIK inhibitor, NCB-0846, having anti-Wnt activity. X-ray co-crystal structure analysis reveals that NCB-0846 binds to TNIK in an inactive conformation, and this binding mode seems to be essential for Wnt inhibition. NCB-0846 suppresses Wnt-driven intestinal tumorigenesis in Apcmin/+ mice and the sphere- and tumour-forming activities of colorectal cancer cells. TNIK is required for the tumour-initiating function of colorectal cancer stem cells. Its inhibition is a promising therapeutic approach.
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