Brusatol sensitizes endometrial hyperplasia and cancer to progestin by suppressing NRF2-TET1-AKR1C1-mediated progestin metabolism

Meiyan Hu, Di Sun, Jing Yu, Yue Fu, Zuoshu Qin, Baozhu Huang, Qiuju Zhang, Xiong Chen, Youheng Wei, Huiting Zhu, Yue Wang, Youji Feng, Wenxin Zheng, Hong Liao, Jingjie Li, Sufang Wu, Zhenbo Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Progestin resistance is the main obstacle for the conservative therapy to maintain fertility in women with endometrial cancer. Brusatol was identified as an inhibitor of the NRF2 pathway; however, its impact on progestin resistance and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we found that brusatol sensitized endometrial cancer to progestin by suppressing NRF2-TET1-AKR1C1-mediated progestin metabolism. Brusatol transcriptionally suppressed AKR1C1 via modifying the hydroxymethylation status in its promoter region through TET1 inhibition. Suppression of AKR1C1 by brusatol resulted in decreased progesterone catabolism and maintained potent progesterone to inhibit endometrial cancer growth. This inhibition pattern has also been found in the established xenograft mouse and organoid models. Aberrant overexpression of AKR1C1 was found in paired endometrial hyperplasia and cancer samples from the same individuals with progestin resistance, whereas attenuated or loss of AKR1C1 was observed in post-treatment samples with well progestin response as compared with paired pre-treatment tissues. Our findings suggest that AKR1C1 expression pattern may serve as an important biomarker of progestin resistance in endometrial cancer.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1335-1345
Number of pages11
JournalLaboratory Investigation
Volume102
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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