Abstract

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is central to cell growth in physiology and pathophysiologies, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). EGFR has been successfully targeted with tyrosine kinase inhibitor generations, but the missense secondary T766M mutation is a common cause of resistance. Overcoming this therapeutic challenge has been hindered by poor understanding of how T766M dysregulates EGFR function leading to tumor progression. Here we show that T766M amplifies tumor growth in vivo by exploiting newly discovered oligomer assembly mechanisms employed by wild type (WT)-EGFR to maintain ligand-independent basal phosphorylation. These mechanisms, also shared by drug-resistant exon 20 EGFR insertions, reveal tumor growth promoting functions for hitherto orphan transmembrane and kinase interfaces and for the ectodomain tethered conformation of EGFR. Placing our findings into the context of a ligand-free oligomer structure model, we provide a framework for future drug discovery directed at tackling EGFR mutations in cancer by disabling oligomer-assembling interactions.