Selective targeting of oncogenic KRAS G12D using peptide nucleic acid oligomers attached to cell-penetrating peptides

KRAS is a proto-oncogene that contains activating mutations in up to 30% of tumors. Many conventional therapies inhibit both cancerous and normal cells, which may cause toxicity. Thus, programmable mutant-selective targeted inhibitors are needed. Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) incorporate base sequences analogous to DNA, with modified peptide backbones instead of ribose-phosphate backbones, allowing PNAs to hybridize with DNA with high avidity to suppress transcription. Here, we developed KRAS G12D-selective PNA oligomers with novel cell-penetrating flanking regions. Fluorescein-labeled PNA oligomers displayed high uptake rates in cells and nuclei. Exposure to PNA-delivery peptide conjugates resulted in repression of KRAS G12D mRNA and protein expression within 2 hours and lasting up to 48 hours. Varying cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) compositions and lengths of complementary KRAS sequences were tested using dose-response cell viability assays. These experiments identified configurations that were effective at selectively preventing growth of on-target KRAS G12D cells, while relatively sparing off-target KRAS G12C cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated in vitro binding and selectivity for KRAS G12D DNA sequences. CPP-PNA-G12D-1 was effective against a panel of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell lines and patient-derived xenografts in vivo. These results show promise for an enhanced PNA-delivery peptide conjugate strategy as both a tool for studying tumors driven by oncogenic point mutations and as a potential therapeutic strategy to selectively target mutant cancer cells.