ARF Suppression by MYC but Not MYCN Confers Increased Malignancy of Aggressive Pediatric Brain Tumors

Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, often harbors MYC amplifications. Compared to high-grade gliomas, MYC -amplified medulloblastomas often show increased photoreceptor activity and arise in the presence of a functional ARF/p53 suppressor pathway. Here, we generate an immunocompetent transgenic mouse model with regulatable MYC that develop clonal tumors that molecularly resemble photoreceptor-positive Group 3 medulloblastoma. Compared to MYCN -expressing brain tumors driven from the same promoter, pronounced ARF silencing is present in our MYC -expressing model and in human medulloblastoma. While partial Arf suppression causes increased malignancy in MYCN -expressing tumors, complete Arf depletion promotes photoreceptor-negative high-grade glioma formation. Computational models and clinical data further identify drugs targeting MYC-driven tumors with a suppressed but functional ARF pathway. We show that the HSP90 inhibitor, Onalespib, significantly targets MYC-driven but not MYCN-driven tumors in an ARF-dependent manner. The treatment increases cell death in synergy with cisplatin and demonstrates potential for targeting MYC-driven medulloblastoma.