Inhibition of NR2F2 restores hormone therapy response to endocrine refractory breast cancers

Abstract

Endocrine resistance is frequently encountered in estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) breast cancer, often because of somatic mutations such as neurofibromin 1 (NF1) loss. The mechanisms by which ER-directed proliferation is lost in such cases are unknown, limiting the potential use of additional endocrine treatments. Here, we performed CRISPR-Cas9 knockout (KO) screens and found that nuclear receptor subfamily 2 group F member 2 (NR2F2), an orphan nuclear receptor, was essential for NF1 loss–induced endocrine resistance. Induction of NR2F2 was observed in ER+ cell line models and patient samples and occurred via activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway upon NF1 loss or other MAPK pathway genetic alterations. Mechanistically, increased NR2F2 orchestrated a repressed ER transcriptional program by repartitioning the ER cistrome, altering the balance of its associated transcriptional coregulators, and modifying global chromatin accessibility. Accordingly, genetic depletion or pharmacologic inhibition of NR2F2 restored sensitivity to hormone therapies in multiple models, including ER+ cell lines, patient-derived xenografts, and patient-derived organoid-based xenografts harboring diverse endocrine-resistance mechanisms such as NF1, AT-rich interactive domain-containing protein 1A (ARID1A), phoshatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) loss, or Kirsten rat sarcoma virus (KRAS) overexpression. Together, these findings underscore NR2F2 as a critical modulator of the hormone response pathway and suggest its inhibition as a promising strategy to overcome endocrine resistance in breast cancer.