Aurora kinase B is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue context

The impact of the tissue context on tumor growth and drug response in medulloblastoma (MB) is poorly understood. To gain insights into the growth and dissemination behavior of the MB tumor cells under treatment, we combined three-dimensional cell culture screening with ex vivo organotypic cerebellum...

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Main Authors: Alexandre Gries, Karthiga Santhana Kumar, Fabien Kuttler, Özgün Özalp, Veronica Akle, Hanqing Zhang, Michael A. Grotzer, Stephan C.F. Neuhauss, Amin Allalou, Martin Baumgartner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Neoplasia: An International Journal for Oncology Research
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1476558624001192
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author Alexandre Gries
Karthiga Santhana Kumar
Fabien Kuttler
Özgün Özalp
Veronica Akle
Hanqing Zhang
Michael A. Grotzer
Stephan C.F. Neuhauss
Amin Allalou
Martin Baumgartner
author_facet Alexandre Gries
Karthiga Santhana Kumar
Fabien Kuttler
Özgün Özalp
Veronica Akle
Hanqing Zhang
Michael A. Grotzer
Stephan C.F. Neuhauss
Amin Allalou
Martin Baumgartner
author_sort Alexandre Gries
collection DOAJ
description The impact of the tissue context on tumor growth and drug response in medulloblastoma (MB) is poorly understood. To gain insights into the growth and dissemination behavior of the MB tumor cells under treatment, we combined three-dimensional cell culture screening with ex vivo organotypic cerebellum slice co-culture (OCSC), which allowed the assessment of tumor cell behavior in the tissue context.To identify druggable kinase pathways involved in invasion, we screened a panel of 274 kinase inhibitors and identified aurora kinase B (AURKB) as a potential anti-invasion drug target in MB. We validated tumor suppressive activities of the AURKB inhibitor (AURKBi) Barasertib (AZD1152-HQPA) and the structurally unrelated compound GSK-1070916 in cerebellum slice culture models for SHH, and Grp3 MB. Importantly, AURKBi are tumor suppressive in the tissue context, also in MB tumor cells that are in vitro resistant to the same treatment. We confirmed the requirement of AURKB for tumor growth and expansion in the tissue context through genetic suppression of AURKB by siRNA. We revealed that the combination of AURKBi with the SRC/BCR-ABL inhibitor Dasatinib acts synergistically to repress tumor growth and expansion in the highly invasive MB cell model ONS-76, but not in Grp3 MB cells. We demonstrate that tumor growth in the tissue context is suppressed by pharmacological inhibition of AURKB, comparable to the growth reduction observed after X-ray irradiation, which was used as the positive control. Finally, we show that exposure to µM concentrations of Barasertib does not cause developmental toxicity in fish larvae.In conclusion, we demonstrate that AURKB is essential for MB tumor growth and expansion in the tissue context and the inhibition of AURKB is equally efficient as irradiation in repressing tumor cell growth. In patients younger than three years, pharmacological targeting of AURKB may thus constitute a novel means to overcome radiotherapy limitations.
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spelling doaj-art-799ec70e4edb4ac9ad435e35ea8dd7772025-08-20T02:36:35ZengElsevierNeoplasia: An International Journal for Oncology Research1476-55862025-01-015910107810.1016/j.neo.2024.101078Aurora kinase B is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue contextAlexandre Gries0Karthiga Santhana Kumar1Fabien Kuttler2Özgün Özalp3Veronica Akle4Hanqing Zhang5Michael A. Grotzer6Stephan C.F. Neuhauss7Amin Allalou8Martin Baumgartner9Pediatric Molecular Neuro-oncology Research, Division of Oncology, University Children's Hospital Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandPediatric Molecular Neuro-oncology Research, Division of Oncology, University Children's Hospital Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandBiomolecular screening Facility, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandDepartment of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandSciLifeLab BioImage Informatics Facility, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Information Technology, Division of Visual Information and Interaction, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SwedenDivision of Oncology, University Children's Hospital Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, SwitzerlandDanioReadout, Immunology Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; SciLifeLab BioImage Informatics Facility, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Information Technology, Division of Visual Information and Interaction, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SwedenPediatric Molecular Neuro-oncology Research, Division of Oncology, University Children's Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland; Corresponding author.The impact of the tissue context on tumor growth and drug response in medulloblastoma (MB) is poorly understood. To gain insights into the growth and dissemination behavior of the MB tumor cells under treatment, we combined three-dimensional cell culture screening with ex vivo organotypic cerebellum slice co-culture (OCSC), which allowed the assessment of tumor cell behavior in the tissue context.To identify druggable kinase pathways involved in invasion, we screened a panel of 274 kinase inhibitors and identified aurora kinase B (AURKB) as a potential anti-invasion drug target in MB. We validated tumor suppressive activities of the AURKB inhibitor (AURKBi) Barasertib (AZD1152-HQPA) and the structurally unrelated compound GSK-1070916 in cerebellum slice culture models for SHH, and Grp3 MB. Importantly, AURKBi are tumor suppressive in the tissue context, also in MB tumor cells that are in vitro resistant to the same treatment. We confirmed the requirement of AURKB for tumor growth and expansion in the tissue context through genetic suppression of AURKB by siRNA. We revealed that the combination of AURKBi with the SRC/BCR-ABL inhibitor Dasatinib acts synergistically to repress tumor growth and expansion in the highly invasive MB cell model ONS-76, but not in Grp3 MB cells. We demonstrate that tumor growth in the tissue context is suppressed by pharmacological inhibition of AURKB, comparable to the growth reduction observed after X-ray irradiation, which was used as the positive control. Finally, we show that exposure to µM concentrations of Barasertib does not cause developmental toxicity in fish larvae.In conclusion, we demonstrate that AURKB is essential for MB tumor growth and expansion in the tissue context and the inhibition of AURKB is equally efficient as irradiation in repressing tumor cell growth. In patients younger than three years, pharmacological targeting of AURKB may thus constitute a novel means to overcome radiotherapy limitations.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1476558624001192Medulloblastomaaurora kinase Borganotypic cerebellum slice cultureradiation therapy replacementzebrafish larval model
spellingShingle Alexandre Gries
Karthiga Santhana Kumar
Fabien Kuttler
Özgün Özalp
Veronica Akle
Hanqing Zhang
Michael A. Grotzer
Stephan C.F. Neuhauss
Amin Allalou
Martin Baumgartner
Aurora kinase B is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue context
Neoplasia: An International Journal for Oncology Research
Medulloblastoma
aurora kinase B
organotypic cerebellum slice culture
radiation therapy replacement
zebrafish larval model
title Aurora kinase B is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue context
title_full Aurora kinase B is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue context
title_fullStr Aurora kinase B is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue context
title_full_unstemmed Aurora kinase B is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue context
title_short Aurora kinase B is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue context
title_sort aurora kinase b is required for growth and expansion of medulloblastoma cells in the tissue context
topic Medulloblastoma
aurora kinase B
organotypic cerebellum slice culture
radiation therapy replacement
zebrafish larval model
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1476558624001192
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