We have used mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) devoid of Ras proteins to illustrate that they are essential for proliferation and migration, but not for survival, at least in these cells. These properties are unique to the Ras subfamily of proteins because ectopic expression of other Ras-like small GTPases, even when constitutively active, could not compensate for the absence of Ras proteins. Only constitutive activation of components of the Raf/Mek/Erk pathway was sufficient to sustain normal proliferation and migration of MEFs devoid of Ras proteins. Activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/PTEN/Akt and Ral guanine exchange factor (RalGEF)/Ral pathways, either alone or in combination, failed to induce proliferation or migration of Rasless cells, although they cooperated with Raf/Mek/Erk signalling to reproduce the full response mediated by Ras signalling. In contrast to current hypotheses, Ras signalling did not induce proliferation by inducing expression of D-type Cyclins. Rasless MEFs had normal levels of Cyclin D1/Cdk4 and Cyclin E/Cdk2. However, these complexes were inactive. Inactivation of the pocket proteins or knock down of pRb relieved MEFs from their dependence on Ras signalling to proliferate.

Mutations at multiple sites in MEK1 occur in cancer, suggesting that their mechanisms of activation might be different. We analyzed 17 tumor-associated MEK1 mutants and found that they drove ERK signaling autonomously or in a RAS/RAF-dependent manner. The latter are sensitive to feedback inhibition of RAF, which limits their functional output, and often cooccur with RAS or RAF mutations. They act as amplifiers of RAF signaling. In contrast, another class of mutants deletes a hitherto unrecognized negative regulatory segment of MEK1, is RAF- and phosphorylation-independent, is unaffected by feedback inhibition of upstream signaling, and drives high ERK output and transformation in the absence of RAF activity. Moreover, these RAF-independent mutants are insensitive to allosteric MEK inhibitors, which preferentially bind to the inactivated form of MEK1. All the mutants are sensitive to an ATP-competitive MEK inhibitor. Thus, our study comprises a novel therapeutic strategy for tumors driven by RAF-independent MEK1 mutants. Significance: Mutants with which MEK1 mutants coexist and their sensitivity to inhibitors are determined by allele-specific properties. This study shows the importance of functional characterization of mutant alleles in single oncogenes and identifies a new class of MEK1 mutants, insensitive to current MEK1 inhibitors but treatable with a new ATP-competitive inhibitor. Cancer Discov; 8(5); 648–61. ©2018 AACR. See related commentary by Maust et al., p. 534. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 517