Transcription factor ZNF263 enhances EGFR-targeted therapeutic response and reduces residual disease in lung adenocarcinoma [RNAseq]

EGF receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have achieved clinical successes in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, tumors often show profound but transient initial response and gain resistance. Here, we identified transcription factor ZNF263 as being significantly decreased in osimertinib-resistant or drug-tolerant persister LUAD cells and clinical residual tumor specimens. Exogenous expression of ZNF263 improved the initial response of cells and delayed the formation of persister cells with osimertinib. We elaborated that ZNF263 bound and recruited DNMT1 to the EGFR gene promoter, suppressing EGFR transcription with DNA hypermethylation. ZNF263 could also interact with nuclear EGFR (nEGFR), impairing the nEGFR-STAT5 interaction to enhance AURKA expression. Overexpressing ZNF263 also made tumor cells with wild-type EGFR expression or refractory EGFR mutations more susceptible to EGFR inhibition. More importantly, lentivirus or AAV-mediated plasmid delivery of ZNF263 synergistically suppressed tumor growth and regrowth with osimertinib in xenograft animal models. These findings suggest that enhancing ZNF263 may achieve complete response in LUAD with EGFR-targeted therapies. To investigate the ZNF263 effect in NSCLC cell lines, ZNF263 or control vector was overexpressed in three types of cell lines, and sequenced with duplicates each.