While the arsenal of approaches to selectively killing cancer cells is increasing, the majority of treatments rely on redox alterations of tumor cells and their microenvironment through chemotherapy, radiation, or some combination thereof. Effectively predicting response to these treatments remains a significant challenge in designing successful personalized therapeutic strategies and currently there are no biomarkers of response to chemo/radiation therapies in clinical use. We hypothesize that the response to redox-based chemotherapeutics can be predicted and enhanced by identifying specific metabolic network features contributing to the redox couple NAD(P)+/NAD(P)H and associated with the specific mechanism of action. We will integrate and expand the scope of our prior successful models of drug bioactivation networks and redox metabolic systems in a comprehensive systems-level approach to improve understanding and enhance prediction of phenotype-specific responses to chemotherapeutic strategies. We will investigate the NAD(P)H-driven mechanisms of response to the quinone-based chemotherapeutic, beta-lapachone (-lap), in laboratory models and clinical specimens of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer (HNSCC). We propose to 1) Develop and validate a predictive model to quantify -lap lethality in matched HNSCC cell lines with altered redox metabolism and response to treatment (SCC-61/rSCC-61); 2) Enhance predictive capabilities of computational model by accounting for metabolic diversity across HNSCC tumors in vitro and in vivo; and, 3) Test model-based predictions of therapeutic outcomes with HNSCC clinical specimens. We anticipate our study will advance precision medicine by accounting for the redox-dependent mechanisms of action for molecular or systemic chemotherapies.

Public Health Relevance

An increasing series of molecular therapeutics are being developed for use alone or in combination with radiation and systemic chemotherapies for treatment of cancer. Yet, there are no means of predicting which patients would respond to these treatments and there are no predictive biomarkers of response that are currently approved for clinical use. This project aims to establish such biomarkers by focusing on the contributors to the tumor NADP+/NADPH redox balance and a promising NADPH-dependent molecular and chemotherapeutic agent (?- lapachone) in Head and Neck Cancer.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project--Cooperative Agreements (U01)
Project #
5U01CA215848-02
Application #
9557009
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZCA1)
Program Officer
Hughes, Shannon K
Project Start
2017-09-04
Project End
2022-08-31
Budget Start
2018-09-01
Budget End
2019-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Georgia Institute of Technology
Department
Engineering (All Types)
Type
Biomed Engr/Col Engr/Engr Sta
DUNS #
097394084
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30318
Chen, Xiaofei; Mims, Jade; Huang, Xiumei et al. (2018) Modulators of Redox Metabolism in Head and Neck Cancer. Antioxid Redox Signal 29:1660-1690
Lewis, Joshua E; Costantini, Francesco; Mims, Jade et al. (2018) Genome-Scale Modeling of NADPH-Driven ?-Lapachone Sensitization in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Antioxid Redox Signal 29:937-952