DIRAS3 broadly suppresses signaling from diverse oncogenic KRAS hotspot variants through an inhibitory interface
Gamze BildikiD, Hailing Yang, Weiqun Mao, Ritchel B. GannabaniD, Vijay Kumar BhardwajiD, Md Nasir UddiniD, S-Y Jung, Mariaelena PieroboniD, Alison Gomeiz, Alemayehu Abebe GorfeiD, John F. HancockiD, Chris B. Marshall, Frank McCormickiD, Steven W. MillwardiD, Junchen LiuiD, Robert C. BastiD, Zhen Lu
Abstract
Despite major advances in KRAS-directed therapies, broadly suppressing oncogenic KRAS signaling across diverse hotspot variants remains an unmet challenge. Here, we identify an endogenous inhibitory mechanism that suppresses signaling across the major oncogenic KRAS hotspot classes while largely sparing basal wild-type KRAS, revealing activation-state-selective inhibition. We demonstrate that the imprinted tumor suppressor DIRAS3 directly engages activated KRAS through a functionally defined inhibitory interface that can be molecularly mimicked to broadly inhibit KRAS-driven signaling. Using genetically controlled RASless reconstitution models, complementary cancer cell validation, structure-function analyses, molecular dynamics-based membrane topology modeling, and ultrastructural imaging, we show that dual lipid modification constrains DIRAS3 membrane topology, enabling an 5-encoded inhibitory interface to engage activated KRAS, disrupt signaling-competent membrane assemblies, and suppress downstream signaling. Structure-function analyses establish this interface as a critical determinant of DIRAS3-mediated KRAS inhibition. A conformationally constrained 5 mimetic recapitulates full-length DIRAS3 activity, broadly suppressing MAPK and PI3K signaling across multiple oncogenic KRAS variants, including Q61 mutants with reduced sensitivity to current tri-complex RAS(ON) inhibitors. Mechanistically, immunoprecipitation shows that the 5 mimetic reduces KRAS association with both RAF1 and p110 similarly across G12 and Q61 mutants, whereas RMC-7977 reduces inhibition of p110 association with Q61 KRAS. The 5 mimetic also disrupts KRAS nanocluster organization and inhibits tumor growth in vivo. These findings identify a targetable inhibitory interface within DIRAS3 and establish mimicry of an endogenous KRAS suppressor as a mechanistically distinct strategy for broad KRAS inhibition.
02 /Specification & Classification
Click any tag to browse matching papers- Citations
- 0
- Organism
- Assay
- Research Focus
- Approach
Reproducibility ledger
Nobody has reported trying to reproduce this paper yet. Did you replicate an experiment or run the code? Your report saves the next lab a week.
Sign in to file a reproducibility report.
Related papers
- Phosphoinositide 3-kinase regulates wild-type RAS signaling to confer resistance to KRAS inhibition
Xiangyu Ge, Jaffarguriqbal Singh, … Mandar Deepak Muzumdar·bioRxiv·Jun 20, 2025
- Targeting a broad spectrum of KRAS-mutant cancers by hyperactivation-induced cell death
J. Lilja, J. Kaivola, … J. Ivaska·bioRxiv·Sep 21, 2022
- Dual inhibition of GTP-bound (ON) and GDP-bound (OFF) KRASG12C suppresses PI3Kα and leads to potent tumor inhibition
Katherine Parker, Samar Ghorbanpoor, … Aaron N. Hata·bioRxiv·Apr 30, 2026
- Discovery of allosteric non-covalent KRAS inhibitors that bind with sub-micromolar affinity and disrupt effector binding
M. J. McCarthy, C. V. Pagba, … A. A. Gorfe·bioRxiv·Oct 11, 2018
- PKC-alpha promotes phosphorylation of KRAS suppressing its oncogenic properties
T. Joglekar, A. Ku, … M.-T. Wang·bioRxiv·May 24, 2022
- The plasma membrane as a competitive inhibitor and positive allosteric modulator of KRas4B signaling
C. Neale, A. E. Garcia·Biophysical JournalPeer-reviewed·Mar 1, 2020