AXL as a modulator of sunitinib response in glioblastoma cell lines

Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) targeted therapy has been explored for glioblastoma treatment. However, it is unclear which RTK inhibitors are the most effective and there are no predictive biomarkers available. We recently identified the RTK AXL as a putative target for the pan-RTK inhibitors cediranib and sunitinib, which are under clinical trials for glioblastoma patients. Here, we provide evidence that AXL activity can modulate sunitinib response in glioblastoma cell lines. We found that AXL knockdown conferred lower sensitivity to sunitinib by rescuing migratory defects and inhibiting apoptosis in cells expressing high AXL basal levels. Accordingly, overactivation of AXL by its ligand GAS6 rendered AXL positive glioblastoma cells more sensitive to sunitinib. AXL knockdown induced a cellular rewiring of several growth signaling pathways through activation of RTKs, such as EGFR, as well as intracellular pathways such as MAPK and AKT. The combination of sunitinib with a specific AKT inhibitor reverted the resistance of AXL-silenced cells to sunitinib. Together, our results suggest that sunitinib inhibits AXL and AXL activation status modulates therapy response of glioblastoma cells to sunitinib. Moreover, it indicates that combining sunitinib therapy with AKT pathway inhibitors could overcome sunitinib resistance.