Amuvatinib has cytotoxic effects against NRAS-mutant melanoma but not BRAF-mutant melanoma

Effective targeted therapy strategies are still lacking for the 15-20% of melanoma patients whose melanomas are driven by oncogenic NRAS. Here, we report on the NRAS-specific behavior of amuvatinib, a kinase inhibitor with activity against c-KIT, Axl, PDGFR alpha, and Rad51. An analysis of BRAF-mutant and NRAS-mutant melanoma cell lines showed the NRAS-mutant cohort to be enriched for targets of amuvatinib, including Axl, c-KIT, and the Axl ligand Gas6. Increasing concentrations of amuvatinib selectively inhibited the growth of NRAS-mutant, but not BRAF-mutant melanoma cell lines, an effect associated with induction of S-phase and G2/M-phase cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis. Mechanistically, amuvatinib was noted to either inhibit Axl, AKT, and MAPK signaling or Axl and AKT signaling and to induce a DNA damage response. In three-dimensional cell culture experiments, amuvatinib was cytotoxic against NRAS-mutant melanoma cell lines. Thus, we show for the first time that amuvatinib has proapoptotic activity against melanoma cell lines, with selectivity observed for those harboring oncogenic NRAS. (C) 2014 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.