Activating RARβ to overcome immunomodulatory drug resistance in t(4;14) human myeloma [ChIP-seq]

Herein, we carried out a high-throughput screen on 1855 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pharmaceuticals and identified all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), which alone has no anti-MM effect, as a potent drug that enhances the cytotoxic effects of immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) in t(4;14) MM cells.

Mechanistically, ATRA activates retinoic acid receptor β (RARβ), which then binds to retinoic acid response elements in the FGFR3 promoter. IMiDs enhanced nuclear translocation of histone deacetylase (HDAC)-5 and 3 by reducing HDAC5 Ser498 phosphorylation levels. RARβ, HDAC5 and HDAC3 formed a co-repressor complex that reduced chromatin accessibility and H3K27 acetylation in FGFR3 promoter, FGFR3 expression, and suppressed phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT signaling pathways, leading to more MM cell death.