Targeting tachykinin receptors in neuroblastoma

• Published in: Oncotarget 2017-01, Vol.8 (1), p.430-443
• Main Authors: Henssen, Anton G, Odersky, Andrea, Szymansky, Annabell, Seiler, Marleen, Althoff, Kristina, Beckers, Anneleen, Speleman, Frank, Schäfers, Simon, De Preter, Katleen, Astrahanseff, Kathy, Struck, Joachim, Schramm, Alexander, Eggert, Angelika, Bergmann, Andreas, Schulte, Johannes H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Apoptosis - drug effects; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cell Survival - drug effects; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; E2F2 Transcription Factor - metabolism; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Flow Cytometry; Gene Expression Profiling; Humans; Mice; Mice, Nude; Molecular Targeted Therapy - methods; Morpholines - therapeutic use; Neuroblastoma - drug therapy; Neuroblastoma - pathology; Neurokinin-1 Receptor Antagonists - therapeutic use; Prodrugs - therapeutic use; Receptors, Neurokinin-1 - metabolism; Research Paper; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Treatment Outcome; Tumor Burden - drug effects; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 - metabolism; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
• ISSN: 1949-2553; 1949-2553
• DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.13440

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial tumor in children. Despite aggressive multimodal treatment, high-risk neuroblastoma remains a clinical challenge with survival rates below 50%. Adding targeted drugs to first-line therapy regimens is a promising approach to improve survival in these patients. TACR1 activation by substance P has been reported to be mitogenic in cancer cell lines. Tachykinin receptor (TACR1) antagonists are approved for clinical use as an antiemetic remedy since 2003. Tachykinin receptor inhibition has recently been shown to effectively reduce growth of several tumor types. Here, we report that neuroblastoma cell lines express TACR1, and that targeting TACR1 activity significantly reduced cell viability and induced apoptosis in neuroblastoma cell lines. Gene expression profiling revealed that TACR1 inhibition repressed E2F2 and induced TP53 signaling. Treating mice harboring established neuroblastoma xenograft tumors with Aprepitant also significantly reduced tumor burden. Thus, we provide evidence that the targeted inhibition of tachykinin receptor signaling shows therapeutic efficacy in preclinical models for high-risk neuroblastoma.