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RAF kinase dimerization: implications for drug discovery and clinical outcomes

Oncogene volume 39, pages 4155–4169 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The RAF kinases activated by RAS GTPases regulate cell growth and division by signal transduction through the ERK cascade and mutations leading to constitutive activity are key drivers of human tumors, as are upstream activators including RAS and receptor tyrosine kinases. The development of first-generation RAF inhibitors, including vemurafenib (VEM) and dabrafenib led to initial excitement due to high response rates and profound regression of malignant melanomas carrying BRAFV600E mutations. The excitement about these unprecedented response rates, however, was tempered by tumor unresponsiveness through both intrinsic and acquired drug-resistance mechanisms. In recent years much insight into the complexity of the RAS–RAF axis has been obtained and inactivation and signal transduction mechanisms indicate that RAF dimerization is a critical step in multiple cellular contexts and plays a key role in resistance. Both homo- and hetero-dimerization of BRAF and CRAF can modulate therapeutic response and disease progression in patients treated with ATP-competitive inhibitors and are therefore highly clinically significant. Ten years after the definition of the RAF dimer interface (DIF) by crystallography, this review focuses on the implications of RAF kinase dimerization in signal transduction and for drug development, both from a classical ATP-competitive standpoint and from the perspective of new therapeutic strategies including inhibiting dimer formation. A structural perspective of the DIF, how dimerization impacts inhibitor activation and the structure-based design of next-generation RAF kinase inhibitors with unique mechanisms of action is presented. We also discuss potential fields of application for DIF inhibitors, ranging from non-V600E oncoproteins and BRAF fusions to tumors driven by aberrant receptor tyrosine kinase or RAS signaling.

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Fig. 1: Working model of the BRAF activation cycle.
Fig. 2: Architecture of the RAF kinase dimer.
Fig. 3: Chemical structures of ATP-competitive RAF inhibitors.
Fig. 4: Cyclic DIF peptide which binds to the BRAF monomer.

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Acknowledgements

CM acknowledges support from the Melanoma Research Alliance Pilot Grant #346843 and by the National Institutes of Health through the research grant, CA191899. TB acknowledges support by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through BR3662/4–1 and a Heisenberg Professorship as well as by DKTK (JFP LOGGIC).

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  1. Institute of Molecular Medicine and Cell Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Strasse 17, 79104, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Tilman Brummer

  2. German Cancer Consortium DKTK Partner Site Freiburg, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

    Tilman Brummer

  3. Comprehensive Cancer Centre Freiburg, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Tilman Brummer

  4. Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Campbell McInnes

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Correspondence to Campbell McInnes.

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The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): C.M as well as being an employee of the University of South Carolina is Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer of PPI Pharmaceuticals, LLC however this company was not involved with any work referenced.

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Brummer, T., McInnes, C. RAF kinase dimerization: implications for drug discovery and clinical outcomes. Oncogene 39, 4155–4169 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-020-1263-y

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