Involvement of HMGB1 in vemurafenib resistance in thyroid cancer cells harboring BRAF (V600E) mutation by regulating excessive autophagy

Purpose Thyroid carcinoma is the most frequent endocrine malignancy with high occurrence of BRAFV600E mutations. Though targeted therapy by vemurafenib, a specific inhibitor for BRAFV600E, has achieved great advance in therapeutic landscape, resistance occurrence is still a clinical challenge. Here, we sought to elucidate the function of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in vemurafenib resistance in thyroid cancer harboring BRAF mutation. Methods The expression of HMGB1 in BRAF-mutant BCPAP and BRAF-wild CAL-62 cells were determined by qRT-PCR and western. Then, BCPAP cells were transfected with recombinant HMGB1 plasmids, and vemurafenib-resistant BCPAP-R cells were treated with si-HMGB1. The efficacy of HMGB1 on vemurafenib resistance was evaluated by detecting cell viability, apoptosis, and caspase-3 activity. In addition, the involvement of autophagy pathway was investigated. Results Lower expression of HMGB1 was observed in BRAF-mutant BCPAP cells that had high sensitivity to vemurafenib. Overexpression of HMGB1 attenuated BCPAP cell sensitivity to vemurafenib by increasing cell viability and decreasing cell apoptosis and caspase-3 activity. Intriguingly, higher expression of HMGB1 was confirmed in vemurafenib-resistant BCPAP-R cells. Moreover, knockdown of HMGB1 sensitized BCPAP-R cells to vemurafenib resistance. Mechanistically, vemurafenib exposure induced autophagy by enhancing LC3II, Beclin-1 expression, and reducing autophagy substrate p62 expression. Importantly, targeting HMGB1 suppressed vemurafenib-induced autophagy. Blocking autophagy pathway with its inhibitor 3-MA offset BCPAP-R cell resistance to vemurafenib. Conclusions These findings highlight that HMGB1-mediated autophagy may account for vemurafenib resistance in thyroid cancer harboring BRAF mutation, implying a promising approach to overcome vemurafenib resistance in vemurafenib-mutant thyroid carcinomas.