Osmotic Stress Influences Microtubule Drug Response Via WNK1 Kinase Signaling

Ion homeostasis is critical for numerous cellular processes, and disturbances in ionic balance underlie diverse pathological conditions, including cancer progression. Targeting ion homeostasis is even considered as a strategy to treat cancer. However, very little is known about how ion homeostasis may influence anticancer drug response. In a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 resistance drug screen, we identified and validated the master osmostress regulator WNK1 kinase as a modulator of the response to the mitotic drug rigosertib. Osmotic stress and WNK1 inactivation lead to an altered response not only to rigosertib treatment but also to other microtubule-related drugs, minimizing the prototypical mitotic arrest produced by these drugs. This effect is due to an alteration in microtubule stability and polymerization dynamics, likely maintained by fluctuations in intracellular molecular crowding upon WNK1 inactivation. This promotes resistance to microtubule depolymerizing drugs, and increased sensitivity to microtubule stabilizing drugs. In summary, our data proposes WNK1 osmoregulation activity as a biomarker for microtubule-associated chemotherapy response.