Targeting TRIP13 in Wilms Tumor with Nuclear Export Inhibitors

Abstract

Wilms tumor (WT) is the most common renal malignancy of childhood. Despite improvements in the overall survival, relapse occurs in ~15% of patients with favorable histology WT (FHWT). Half of these patients will succumb to their disease. Identifying novel targeted therapies in a systematic manner remains challenging in part due to the lack of faithful preclinical in vitro models. We established ten short-term patient-derived WT cell lines and characterized these models using low-coverage whole genome sequencing, whole exome sequencing and RNA-sequencing, which demonstrated that these ex-vivo models faithfully recapitulate WT biology. We then performed targeted RNAi and CRISPR-Cas9 loss-of-function screens and identified the nuclear export genes (XPO1 and KPNB1) as strong vulnerabilities. We observed that these models are sensitive to nuclear export inhibition using the FDA approved therapeutic agent, selinexor (KPT-330). Selinexor treatment of FHWT suppressed TRIP13 expression, which was required for survival. We further identified in vitro and in vivo synergy between selinexor and doxorubicin, a chemotherapy used in high risk FHWT. Taken together, we identified XPO1 inhibition with selinexor as a potential therapeutic option to treat FHWTs and in combination with doxorubicin, leads to durable remissions in vivo.