Franziska Briest, Irina Grass, Dagmar Sedding, Markus Moebs, Friederike Christen, Joana Benecke, Karolin Fuchs, Stefanie Mende, Daniel Kaemmerer, Jörg Sänger, Almut Kunze, Christina Geisler, Helma Freitag, Florentine Lewens, Lina Worpenberg, Sara Iwaszkiewicz, Britta Siegmund, Wolfgang Walther, Michael Hummel, Patricia Grabowski

• Background/Aims: The tumor suppressor p53 is rarely mutated in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NEN) but they frequently show a strong expression of negative regulators of p53, rendering these tumors excellent targets for a p53 recovery therapy. Therefore, we analyzed the mechanisms of a p53 recovery therapy on intestinal neuroendocrine tumors in vitro and in vivo. Methods: By Western blot and immunohistochemistry, we found that in GEP-NEN biopsy material overexpression of MDM2 was present in intestinal NEN. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of a small-molecule inhibitor, nutlin-3a, in p53 wild-type and mutant GEP-NEN cell lines by proliferation assay, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, Western blot, and by multiplex gene expression analysis. Finally, we analyzed the antitumor effect of nutlin-3a in a xenograft mouse model in vivo. During the study, the tumor volume was determined. Results: The midgut wild-type cell line KRJ-I responded to the treatment with cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. By gene expressionBackground/Aims: The tumor suppressor p53 is rarely mutated in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NEN) but they frequently show a strong expression of negative regulators of p53, rendering these tumors excellent targets for a p53 recovery therapy. Therefore, we analyzed the mechanisms of a p53 recovery therapy on intestinal neuroendocrine tumors in vitro and in vivo. Methods: By Western blot and immunohistochemistry, we found that in GEP-NEN biopsy material overexpression of MDM2 was present in intestinal NEN. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of a small-molecule inhibitor, nutlin-3a, in p53 wild-type and mutant GEP-NEN cell lines by proliferation assay, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, Western blot, and by multiplex gene expression analysis. Finally, we analyzed the antitumor effect of nutlin-3a in a xenograft mouse model in vivo. During the study, the tumor volume was determined. Results: The midgut wild-type cell line KRJ-I responded to the treatment with cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. By gene expression analysis, we could demonstrate that nutlins reactivated an antiproliferative p53 response. KRJ-I-derived xenograft tumors showed a significantly decreased tumor growth upon treatment with nutlin-3a in vivo. Furthermore, our data suggest that MDM2 also influences the expression of the oncogene FOXM1 in a p53-independent manner. Subsequently, a combined treatment of nutlin-3a and cisplatin (as chemoresistance model) resulted in synergistically enhanced antiproliferative effects. Conclusion: In summary, MDM2 overexpression is a frequent event in p53 wild-type intestinal neuroendocrine neoplasms and therefore recovery of a p53 response might be a novel personalized treatment approach in these tumors. (c) 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel…