SECUAH 2021

dianas | Vol 9 No 1 | marzo 2020 | e202003

An aptamer against MNK1 as antitumoral agent in lung cancer

Rebeca Carrión-Marchante, Celia Pinto-Díez, José Ignacio Klett-Mingo, Víctor M González, María Elena Martín

Fundación IRYCIS. Hospital Ramón y Cajal Ctra. Colmenar, Km. 9,100 28034 Madrid

rebecacm93@gmail.com; rebeca.carrion@hrc.es

V Congreso de Señalización Celular, SECUAH 2020.
16-18 de marzo, 2020. Universidad de Alcalá. Alcalá de Henares, Madrid. España.

Keywords: Aptamer; apMNKQ2; MNK1; lung cancer; therapy

Abstract

The eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) plays a key role in protein synthesis. eIF4E overexpression is associated with an increase of oncogenic proteins. MAP kinases-interacting kinases (MNKs) regulate the phosphorylation of eIF4E, which is essential for its oncogenic action. Its overexpression is related to an increase in the translation of mRNAs involved in oncogenic processes. Several studies have found high levels of p-eIF4E and p-MNK1 in different tumors, what correlates with poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Lung cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed diseases in the last years, along with breast, colorectal and prostate cancers, leading cause of cancer mortality and morbidity globally. In our laboratory, we identified and optimized an aptamer against MNK1 (apMNKQ2) which is being currently validated in breast cancer. The aim of this study is to show whether apMNKQ2 could be used as a therapeutic tool in the NSCLC cell lines A549, SW900 and H460, representative of the three NSCLC types: adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma. Tumor progression assays show that apMNKQ2 produces apoptosis in lung tumor cell lines decreasing cell viability and colony formation. Metastatic-processes associated assays show apMNKQ2 decreases cell migration in wound healing and transwells assays. These results confirm the antitumoral activity of apMNKQ2 and its potential as therapeutic tool in NSCLC.