Disclosing Potential Therapeutic Targets Associated With Osimertinib Resistance in the Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Line H1975

Abstract

Background/Aim: Osimertinib, a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is a highly effective and valuable treatment option for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with EGFR mutations, such as T790M. However, acquired resistance ultimately limits its clinical application. In this study, we aimed to identify potential targets for overcoming osimertinib resistance. Materials and Methods: The H1975/OSI cell line was induced in vitro through intermittent induction. Cell activity was measured using a cell counting kit-8 assay. Uni-omics and multi-omics analyses were conducted on the transcriptomic and proteomic (4D label-free) expression profiles, which involved differential expression analysis, GO functional annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, as well as correlation analysis of transcription factors and PPI network. Results: H1975/OSI cells showed resistance towards osimertinib with IC50 values approximately 5.25-fold higher than H1975 cells. A total of 2519 genes were found to be differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 1533 proteins were found to be differentially abundant proteins (DAPs). Furthermore, 147 genes that were differentially expressed at both the transcription and protein levels (TPGs) were identified as being differentially expressed in both the transcriptome and proteome. It was revealed that many pathways related to the structure and function of ribosomes, as well as metabolites, were altered. The highest connectivity genes of 147 TPGs included NOP56, DDX21, PDCD11, CCNB1, and TOP2A. The hub genes of the transcriptional regulatory network included DDX21, KPNA2, DDX5, BRCA1, LMNB1, and HIF1A. Conclusion: Collectively, our high-throughput analysis uncovered functional properties that interacted with gene signatures of H1975/OSI cells, and highlighted certain pathways and eleven hub genes that may be the potential targets for improving clinical osimertinib resistance.