On April 14, 2016 Asana BioSciences, LLC reported that it will present preclinical data regarding its product candidate, ASN007A, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, being held in New Orleans, Louisiana, from April 16-20, 2016 (Press release, Asana BioSciences, APR 14, 2016, View Source [SID:1234510836]). The presentation details are as follows:

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Abstract Number:
187
Title:
ASN007, a potent ERK 1/2 inhibitor with strong antitumor activity in multiple RAS mutant models
Presenter:
Sanjeeva Reddy, Ph.D., Asana BioSciences
Location:
Section 7, Poster Board Number 12
Date:
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Times:
1:00pm – 5:00pm

ERK kinases play a crucial role in RAS/MAPK pathway, which is upregulated in a wide variety of tumors through mutations in RAS or BRAF genes. ERK inhibitors are expected to treat a wide range of tumors with BRAF, MEK, NRAS, HRAS and KRAS mutations including colorectal, pancreatic, lung, breast, ovarian, melanoma and prostate. In addition, they have potential to overcome resistance to BRAF and MEK inhibitors in patients.

ASN007A is one of the lead compounds from Asana’s ERK 1/2 inhibitor program with low nanomolar IC50 values. It showed strong anti-proliferative activity in both BRAF and RAS mutant cell lines, as well as potent anti-proliferative activity in a number of KRAS, NRAS and HRAS mutant cell lines representing various histological tumor types. It demonstrated strong inhibition of tumor growth in multiple xenograft models in mice and was well tolerated at efficacious doses. Based on its profile in preclinical studies, ASN007A is a potential best-in-class molecule expected to show strong efficacy in BRAF and various RAS mutant cancers.

BCL2 blunts activation of the mitochondrial pathway to apoptosis and high-level expression is required for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) survival. Venetoclax (ABT-199) is a small molecule selective inhibitor of BCL2 currently in clinical trials for CLL and other malignancies. In conjunction with the phase I first-in-human clinical trial of venetoclax in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL (M12-175), we investigated the mechanism of action of venetoclax in vivo, explored whether in vitro sensitivity assays or BH3 profiling correlated with in vivo responses in patients, and determined whether loss of TP53 function affected responses in vitro and in vivo. In all samples tested, venetoclax induced death of CLL cells in vitro at concentrations achievable in vivo, with cell death evident within four hours. Apoptotic CLL cells were detected in vivo 6 or 24 hours after a single 20mg or 50mg dose in some patients. The extent of mitochondrial depolarisation by a BIM BH3 peptide in vitro was correlated with percentage reduction of CLL in the blood and bone marrow in vivo, while the LC50derived from standard cytotoxicity assays was not. CLL cell death in vitro and the depth of clinical responses were independent of deletion of chromosome 17p,TP53mutation and TP53 function. These data provide direct evidence that venetoclax kills CLL cells in a TP53-independent fashion by inhibition of BCL2 in patients, and support further assessment of BH3 profiling as a predictive biomarker for this drug.
Copyright © 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper).

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Notch is long recognized as a signaling molecule important for stem cell self-renewal and fate determination. Here, we reveal a novel adhesive role of Notch-ligand engagement in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Using mice with conditional loss of O-fucosylglycans on Notch EGF-like repeats important for the binding of Notch ligands, we report that HSPCs with faulty ligand binding ability display enhanced cycling accompanied by increased egress from the marrow, a phenotype mainly attributed to their reduced adhesion to Notch ligand-expressing stromal cells and osteoblastic cells and their altered occupation in osteoblastic niches. Adhesion to Notch ligand-bearing osteoblastic or stromal cells inhibits wild type but not O-fucosylglycan-deficient HSPC cycling, independent of RBP-JK -mediated canonical Notch signaling. Furthermore, Notch-ligand neutralizing antibodies induce RBP-JK -independent HSPC egress and enhanced HSPC mobilization. We, therefore, conclude that Notch receptor-ligand engagement controls HSPC quiescence and retention in the marrow niche that is dependent on O-fucosylglycans on Notch.
© 2015 AlphaMed Press.

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Intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy confers significant survival benefits in cancer patients. However, several problems, including local toxicity and ineffectiveness against bulky tumors, have prohibited it from becoming a standard-of-care. We have developed drug-loaded, tumor-penetrating microparticles (TPM) to address these problems. TPM comprises two components and uses the versatile PLGA or poly(lacticco-glycolic acid) copolymer to provide tumor-selective adherence and pharmacodynamically optimized fractionated dosing to achieve the desired tumor priming (which promotes particle penetration into tumors) plus immediate and sustained antitumor activity. Preclinical studies show that TPM is less toxic and more effective against several IP metastatic tumors with different characteristics (fast vs. slow growing, porous vs. densely packed structures, wide-spread vs. solitary tumors, early vs. late stage, with or without peritoneal carcinomatosis or ascites), compared to the intravenous paclitaxel/Cremophor micellar solution that has been used off-label in previous IP studies. TPM further requires less frequent dosing. These encouraging preclinical results have motivated the follow-up clinical development of TPM. We are working with National Institutes of Health on the IND-enabling studies.

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Homozygous deletions of p16/CDKN2A are prevalent in cancer, and these mutations commonly involve co-deletion of adjacent genes, including methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP). Here, we used shRNA screening and identified the metabolic enzyme, methionine adenosyltransferase II alpha (MAT2A), and the arginine methyltransferase, PRMT5, as vulnerable enzymes in cells with MTAP deletion. Metabolomic and biochemical studies revealed a mechanistic basis for this synthetic lethality. The MTAP substrate methylthioadenosine (MTA) accumulates upon MTAP loss. Biochemical profiling of a methyltransferase enzyme panel revealed that MTA is a potent and selective inhibitor of PRMT5. MTAP-deleted cells have reduced PRMT5 methylation activity and increased sensitivity to PRMT5 depletion. MAT2A produces the PRMT5 substrate S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), and MAT2A depletion reduces growth and PRMT5 methylation activity selectively in MTAP-deleted cells. Furthermore, this vulnerability extends to PRMT5 co-complex proteins such as RIOK1. Thus, the unique biochemical features of PRMT5 create an axis of targets vulnerable in CDKN2A/MTAP-deleted cancers.
Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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