EGFR signaling confers resistance to BET inhibition in hepatocellular carcinoma through stabilizing oncogenic MYC

BACKGROUND: The bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) inhibitor is a type of anti-tumor agent, currently being evaluated in phase I and II clinical trials for cancer therapy. It can decrease MYC expression levels and cause effective anti-tumor effects in diverse human cancers. However, its cytotoxic effect and related mechanisms of drug resistance are poorly understood in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). Here, we investigated the anti-tumor effects of BET inhibitor on HCC and the molecular mechanisms involved in its associated drug resistance. METHODS: We assessed the cytotoxicity of BET inhibitor on HCC cells compared with sorafenib by cell viability assay, metastasis assay and reproduced the anti-tumor effect in xenograft mouse model. In addition, the molecular mechanisms involved in drug resistance on JQ1-resistant HCC cells were revealed by western blotting, qRT-PCR, whole exome-sequencing and gene-editing technology. Finally, with specific inhibition of EGFR or ERK activity by interference RNAs or inhibitors, the efficacy of the synergistic treatment was investigated using cell viability assay, colony formation, apoptosis and xenograft mouse model. RESULTS: We found that JQ1, a commonly used BET bromo-domain inhibitor, offered a better anti-tumor response than sorafenib in MYC-positive HCC cells by inducing apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. Unlike sorafenib, JQ1 treatment significantly impaired mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis in HCC cells. Importantly, we revealed that MAPK activation by a previously undescribed activating mutation of EGFR-I645L, was critical for JQ1 sensitivity through stabilizing oncogenic MYC protein in JQ1-resistant HCC cells. Inhibition of either EGFR or ERK activity overcame the JQ1 resistance and significantly decreased MYC protein level in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSION: Since MYC amplification is frequently identified in HCC, co-occurring with EGFR amplification, our findings suggest that targeting EGFR signaling might be essential for JQ1 therapy in advanced HCC. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-019-1082-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.