Cutaneous wound healing through paradoxical MAPK activation by BRAF inhibitors
BRAF inhibitors are highly effective therapies for the treatment of BRAFV600-mutated melanoma, with the main toxicity being a variety ofhyperproliferative skin conditions due to paradoxical activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in BRAF wild-type cells.Most of these hyperproliferative skin changes improve when a MEK inhibitor is co-administered, as it blocks paradoxical MAPK activation. Here weshow how the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib accelerates skin wound healing by inducing the proliferation and migration of human keratinocytesthrough extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phos-phorylation and cell cycle progression. Topical treatment with vemurafenib in two wound-healing mice models accelerates cutaneous wound healing through paradoxical MAPK activation; addition of a mitogen-activated protein kinasekinase (MEK) inhibitor reverses the benefit of vemurafenib-accelerated wound healing. The same dosing regimen of topical BRAF inhibitor does notincrease the incidence of cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas in mice. Therefore, topical BRAF inhibitors may have clinical applications inaccelerating the healing of skin wounds.
Helena Escuin-Ordinas, Shuoran Li, Michael W. Xie, Lu Sun, Willy Hugo, Rong Rong Huang, Jiang Jiao, Felipe Meira de-Faria, Susan Realegeno, Paige Krystofinski, Ariel Azhdam, Sara Marie D. Komenan, Mohammad Atefi, Begona Comin-Aunduix, Matteo Pellegrini, Alistar J Cochran, Robert Modlin, Harvey R Herschman, Roger S. Lo, William H. McBride, Tatiana Segura and Antoni Ribas
Nature Communications | Published August 1st, 2016 | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12348