NEK2 Inhibition Enhances the Efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 Blockade in Multiple Myeloma

Introduction

The development of new treatments for high-risk multiple myeloma (HRMM) are needed. The PD-1/PD-L1 axis is one of the chief inhibitory immune checkpoints in antitumor immunity. Despite the success of PD-1 (PDCD1) / PD-L1 (CD274) blockade in some neoplasms, use of it as a monotherapy has failed to improve outcome in RRMM. We have previously demonstrated that the cell-cycle-regulated serine-threonine kinase, NEK2 is elevated in HRMM and that inhibition of NEK2 can overcome drug-resistance and prolong survival of xenografted MM cells. Here, we aimed to investigate the possible role of NEK2 in regulating the immune checkpoint response in MM and development of possible anti-PD1/PDL1 combination therapies.

Methods

Gene expression profiles and pathway enrichment analyses were conducted on oligonucleotide microarray gene expression profiles from over 1000 primary MM samples to evaluate the correlation of NEK2 and immune checkpoint expression levels. To elucidate the underlying mechanism, we used Nek2 ^-/- mice crossed with EμMyc mice to generate B cell tumor mouse model with NEK2 deficiency. RNA-sequencing analyses of premalignant B cells was compared between EμMyc/Nek2 ^WT and EμMyc/Nek2 ^-/- mice. The hub molecular regulators in the NEK2 correlated pathways were further determined by western blot using NEK2 overexpressing and knockdown cell lines and then verified by co-immunoprecipitation with a NEK2 antibody. Lastly, to establish its clinic significance, the efficacy of INH1 (small compound NEK2 inhibitor), (D)-PPA 1 (peptide-based PD-1/PD-L1 interaction inhibitor) or a PD-L1 (monoclonal antibody) was tested in bone marrow BM mononuclear cells from primary MM patients in-vitro as well as in MM xenografts. Tumor burden and T cell immune responses were monitored by M-spike and mass cytometry.

Results

Gene expression profiles demonstrated that CD274 expression was significantly higher in the non-proliferative hyperdiploid (HY) subtype of MM, representing between 25-35% of all MM. NEK2 was negatively correlated with CD274 gene expression across all 7 MM subtypes. Gene set enrichment analysis showed that the IFN-γ signaling pathway, which can induce CD274 expression, was significantly enriched in the HY subtype as well as premalignant B cells from EμMyc/Nek2 ^-/- mice. Elevated expression of EZH2, a histone methyltransferase gene, is also highly correlated wirth NEK2 levels in primary MM. We found that NEK2 inhibition increases CD274 expression as well as reduced EZH2 expression and H3K27me3 levels in MM cell lines. In contrarst, myeloma cells overexpressing NEK2 showed increased expression and activity of EZH2 and H3K27me3 levels. Thus, NEK2 appears to regulate CD274/PD-L1 expression through EZH2-mediated histone methylation. Next we demonstrated that NEK2 and EZH2 directly interact and that overexpression of NEK2 leads to increased methylation of the CD274/PD-L1 gene. We treated BM mononuclear cells from primary MM with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor with and without a NEK2 inhibitor. The combination was most effective at eliminating CD138 ⁺ myeloma cells while having no effects on T, B and myeloid cell populations.

Conclusion

Our study showed that expression of CD274/PD-L1 is suppressed in primary HRMM and that CD274/PD-L1 expression is negatively regulated by NEK2 via EZH2-mediated methylation. Inhibition of NEK2 sensitizes myeloma cells to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade, showing either a synergistic or an additive effect in MM cell cytotoxicity.