Abstract PR003: Overexpression of the small GTPase Rab27B promotes tumor growth by regulating autophagy flux in colorectal cancer


 Rab27B is a member of the Rab small GTPases that belong to the RAS-like GTPase superfamily. Rab27B has been shown to regulate endosomal trafficking, exosome secretion and delivery of secretory granules. However, the role of Rab27B in colorectal cancer (CRC) tumor biology is unknown. Using CRC tissue microarrays, a significant upregulation of Rab27B was detected in staged adenocarcinoma compared to normal colon tissue. Interestingly, microsatellite instable (MSI) tumors showed a higher increase in Rab27B (2.4-fold) than microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors (1.6-fold), consistent with TCGA data. To study the role of Rab27B in CRC, we targeted Rab27B in MSI HCT116 cell line by CRISPR-Cas9 deletion and siRNA knockdown. In both cases, loss of Rab27B resulted in a dysregulation of cellular autophagy. Rab27B-depleted cells showed an abnormal accumulation of autophagy vesicles and increase in autophagy markers LC3-II and p62, indicating a defect in autophagy flux. To characterize this autophagy defect, we used eGFP-mCherry-LC3 reporter, lysotracker and Cyto-ID staining to identify that autophagy flux is blocked at the autophagosome/lysosome fusion step when Rab27B is lost. As autophagy has been shown to have a pro-survival role in tumor growth and stress response, we hypothesized that this defect in autophagy flux resulting from Rab27B deletion will impact cellular stress response and reduce tumor growth. While Rab27B knockout (KO) cells show similar in vitro 2D-growth characteristics as wildtype cells under normal conditions, loss of Rab27B resulted in a 60% reduction in cell viability in response to starvation conditions. Similarly, a 94% reduction in colony formation was observed when grown in soft agar, along with deficiencies in spheroid formation. In vivo, Rab27B KO cells showed a major reduction (p<0.0001) in tumor growth xenografts compared to wildtype HCT116 cells. To analyze the therapeutic potential of Rab27B inhibition in CRC, we performed a high throughput drug screen to identify small-molecule inhibitors of Rab27B GTPase activity in vitro from a panel of ∼2,100 compounds contained within the KU-HTSL chemical library. This screening resulted in the identification of three compounds (BTB00809, BTB03584, and KM01532) that demonstrated Rab27B GTPase activity inhibition. Taken together, these results demonstrate a new role of Rab27B in the autophagy trafficking process in CRC. Futures studies will focus on further characterizing the relationship among Rab27B overexpression, microsatellite instability and autophagy in vitro and in vivo using Rab27B knockout mouse model, as well as investigating whether Rab27B can be targeted as a potential new therapeutic strategy.
 Citation Format: Sahida Afroz, Ranjan Preet, Vikalp Vishwakarma, Dan A. Dixon. Overexpression of the small GTPase Rab27B promotes tumor growth by regulating autophagy flux in colorectal cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Colorectal Cancer; 2022 Oct 1-4; Portland, OR. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(23 Suppl_1):Abstract nr PR003.