Oncogenic Mutant p53 Sensitizes Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells to Proteasome Inhibition via Oxidative Stress-Dependent Induction of Mitochondrial Apoptosis

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells with oncogenic mutant p53 alleles (Onc-p53) exhibit significantly higher levels of proteasome activity, indicating that Onc-p53 induces proteotoxic stress which may be leveraged as a therapeutic vulnerability. Proteasome inhibitors (PIs), such as bortezomib (BTZ), can induce toxic levels of oxidative stress in cancer cells and thus we investigated whether PIs exhibit preferential cytotoxicity in Onc-p53 NSCLC cells. Indeed, BTZ and other PIs exhibited the IC50 6-7-fold lower in Onc-p53 cells vs. wild-type (WT) p53 cells. BTZ cytotoxic effects in Onc-p53 cells were nearly completely rescued by antioxidants such as N-acetyl cysteine, indicating that oxidative stress is the critical driver of BTZ-dependent cytotoxic effects in Onc-p53 cells. Importantly, we observed oxidative stress-dependent transcriptional induction of the pro-apoptotic NOXA with downstream cleaved caspase-3, consistent with apoptotic cell death in Onc-p53 but not in WT p53 cells treated with BTZ, and BTZ-generated oxidative stress was linked to nuclear translocation of NRF2 and transcriptional activation of ATF3, which in turn was required for NOXA induction. Validating BTZ′s translational potential in Onc-p53 NSCLC, BTZ and carboplatin or the BH3-mimetic navitoclax were synergistically cytotoxic in Onc-p53 but not WT p53 cells in vitro, and BTZ effectively limited growth of Onc-p53 NSCLC xenografts when combined with either carboplatin or navitoclax in vivo. Our data therefore support further investigation of the therapeutic utility of PIs combined with carboplatin or BH3-mimetics in Onc-p53 human NSCLC as novel therapeutic strategies. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.