# Phosphoproteomic Profiling of Multiple Myeloma Based on Ex Vivo Drug Sensitivity Resistance Testing Identifies Phosphorylation Signatures Associated with Drug Response

## TL;DR

This study uses phosphoproteomic analysis to identify phosphorylation patterns linked to drug sensitivity and resistance in multiple myeloma patients.

## Contribution

The study introduces phosphoproteomic signatures associated with drug response in multiple myeloma, offering new insights into resistance mechanisms.

## Key findings

- Highly sensitive patients show increased phosphorylation in translation and RNA processing pathways.
- Resistant patients exhibit elevated phosphorylation in tight junctions and signaling pathways like Rap1 and phosphatidylinositol.
- The study provides a phosphoproteomic dataset linking phosphorylation patterns to drug response in multiple myeloma.

## Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterised by the clonal expansion of plasma cells in the bone marrow followed by end-organ damage. Despite a significant increase in the five-year survival rate in recent years, MM is still considered an incurable disease as patients will repeatedly relapse and develop resistance to standard-of-care therapies. A central theme for the personalization of MM therapy is understanding the biological mechanisms of drug resistance and identifying clinically relevant biomarkers of therapeutic response. Highly effective protocols for the enrichment of phosphorylated peptides followed by high-resolution mass spectrometry makes possible the quantitation of thousands of site-specific phosphorylation events, principally on serine, threonine or tyrosine residues. In this study, phosphoproteomic analysis of 20 MM patient cell lysates was performed, stratified based on their ex vivo drug response profiles to Bortezomib and Lenalidomide, two of the most foundational therapeutic agents in the management of MM. In this study, patients who are highly sensitive to these drugs show increased phosphorylation of proteins concerned with translation and RNA processing including the spliceosome, RNA transport and RNA binding pathways, while highly resistant patients demonstrated an increased phosphorylation of proteins involved with tight junctions, the Rap1 signalling pathway and the phosphatidylinositol signalling system. This study has established a phosphoproteomic dataset displaying unique phosphorylation signatures associated with drug sensitivity in MM patient plasma cells. The identification of phosphorylation signatures associated with drug resistance provides the foundation for further exploration of these mechanisms and associated signalling pathways to further characterise drug resistance mechanisms in MM and identify promising biomarkers of therapeutic response and targets for drug re-sensitization in MM.