MAPK and mTORC1 signaling converge to drive cyclin D1 protein production to enable cell cycle reentry in melanoma persister cells

In <i>BRAF</i>-mutant melanoma cells treated with inhibitors of the kinases BRAF and MEK, a subset of cells rapidly and nongenetically adapts to escape drug-induced quiescence and reenters the cell cycle. Here, we investigated the mechanisms enabling this drug escape by computationally reconstructing single-cell lineages from time-lapse imaging data, linking dynamic signaling pathways to distinct cell-cycle fate outcomes. We found that reactivation of the MEK substrate ERK was necessary but not sufficient to drive escape; rather, the activity of the protein complex mTORC1 was also required to promote cell growth and protein synthesis in drug-treated cells destined for cell-cycle reentry. ERK and mTORC1 signaling converged to increase the abundance of cyclin D1 protein, a critical bottleneck for cell-cycle commitment under drug pressure. In cells in which endogenous cyclin D1 was fluorescently tagged using CRISPR, the subset that escaped drug treatment exhibited marked accumulation of cyclin D1 at least 15 hours before cell-cycle reentry, enabling early prediction of future drug escape. Cyclin D1 thus represents both an early biomarker and potential therapeutic target for suppressing drug escape in melanoma. We observed a similar mTORC1-driven mechanism underlying escape in lung cancer cells, but not colon cancer cells, highlighting partial generalizability across cancer types.