Targeted suppression of ZNF217-induced AKT signaling inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in osteosarcoma

We previously identified ZNF217 as an oncogenic driver of a subset of osteosarcomas (OSAs) using the Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon system. Here, we followed up investigating the role of ZNF217 in OSA and combined these studies with an orthotopic preclinical animal model and culture experiments. We found that targeting ZNF217-induced AKT signaling with a small molecule inhibitor is a promising approach to treating ZNF217+ OSAs. Here, we demonstrate that ZNF217 is involved in numerous facets of OSA transformation including proliferation, cell motility, colony formation, and ultimately promoting OSA growth, progression, and metastasis in part through AKT survival pathway modulation. Preclinical blockade of AKT signaling with nucleoside analogue triciribine (TCN) in ZNF217+ orthotopically-injected OSA cell lines reduced tumor growth, metastasis, and was well-tolerated. TCN treatment was also found to synergize with common broad-spectrum chemotherapeutic doxorubicin. Our data demonstrate that TCN treatment may be a relevant and efficacious therapeutic strategy for OSA patients with ZNF217+ and p-AKTSer473-rich tumors. With the recent revitalization of triciribine for clinical studies in other solid cancers (PTX-200, Prescient Therapeutics), our study provides rationale for further evaluation preclinically with the purpose of clinical evaluation in patients with incurable, ZNF217+ OSA. This RNA study examined the role of ZNF217 in osteosarcoma through knockdown studies Control and knockdown samples were performed in duplicate in SJSA-1 osteosarcoma cells