The selective activator protein-1 inhibitor T-5224 regulates the IRF4/MYC axis and exerts cooperative antimyeloma activity with bortezomib

The activating protein-1 (AP-1) transcription factors (TFs) have been associated with many different cancer types and are promising therapeutic targets in logical malignancies. However, the mechanisms of their role in multiple myeloma (MM) remain elusive. The present study determined and compared the mRNA and protein expression levels of the AP-1 family member JunB in CD138+ mononuclear cells from MM patients and healthy donors. Herein, we investigated the effect of T-5224, an inhibitor of JUN/AP-1, on MM. We found that the cytotoxicity of T-5224 toward myeloma is due to its ability to induce cell apoptosis, inhibit proliferation, and induce cell cycle arrest by increasing the levels of cleaved caspase3/7 and concomitantly inhibiting the IRF4/MYC axis. We also noticed that siJunB-mediated deletion of JunB/AP-1 enhanced MM cell apoptosis and affected cell proliferation. The software PROMO was used in the present study to predict the AP-1 TF that may bind the promoter region of IRF4. We confirmed the correlation between JunB/AP-1 and IRF4. Given that bortezomib (BTZ) facilitates IRF4 degradation in MM cells, we applied combination treatment of BTZ with T-5224. T-5224 and BTZ exerted synergistic effects, and T-5224 reversed the effect of BTZ on CD138+ primary resistance in MM cells, in part due to suppression of the IRF4/MYC axis. Our results suggest that targeting AP-1 TFs is a promising therapeutic strategy for MM. Additionally, targeting both AP-1 and IRF4 with T-5224 may be a synergistic therapeutic strategy for this clinically challenging subset of MM.