Biochemical and functional analyses of gp130 mutants unveil JAK1 as a novel therapeutic target in human inflammatory hepatocellular adenoma

Inflammatory hepatocellular adenomas (IHCAs) are benign liver lesions that can be characterized histologically by the presence of an inflammatory infiltrate and at the molecular level by the overexpression of acute phase inflammatory response genes. Recurrent somatic mutations of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) signal transducer (IL6ST) locus, encoding the critical component of the IL-6 signal transduction machinery gp130, are present in 60% of IHCAs and in a subset (2%) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCCs). By screening of 256 human hepatic adenoma specimens (the largest genetic analysis of IL6ST performed to date in this setting), we identified 24 distinct somatic IL6ST mutations among 66 mutant adenomas. The functional analysis of nine different gp130 mutants expressed in hepatic cancer cell lines consistently revealed the constitutive and IL-6-independent activation of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway. We further demonstrated that the signaling activity of mutant gp130 in IHCA remains responsive to suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3), a physiological gp130 inhibitor. Specifically, cells expressing a double mutant variant of gp130 with a disrupted SOCS3-binding site at residue 759 (Y186/Y759F) displayed a hyperactivation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) as compared with cells expressing the endogenous IHCA-associated Y186 gp130 mutant. Notably, we identified that constitutive signaling via gp130 in IHCA requires the Janus kinase family member JAK1, but not JAK2 or tyrosine kinase 2. In support of this notion, AG490, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that selectively blocks JAK2, had no effect on gp130 activity. In stark contrast, we showed that ruxolitinib, a JAK1/JAK2-selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor used to treat patients with myelofibrosis, dramatically impaired JAK1-STAT signaling downstream of all IHCA-associated gp130 mutants. In conclusion, our findings provide a rationale for the use of JAK1 inhibitors for the treatment of HCAs expressing mutant gp130 as well as a subset of HCCs that bear similar mutations.