Laroche-Clary A, Josensi C, Derieppe MA, Belhomme S, Vendrely V, Perret R, Cadogan E, Italiano A. Selective DNA-PK Inhibition Enhances Chemotherapy and Ionizing Radiation Activity in Soft-Tissue Sarcomas.
Clin Cancer Res 2024;
30:629-637. [PMID:
37982819 DOI:
10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-23-1531]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE
Patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) exhibit a poor prognosis and have few therapeutic options. DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) catalytic subunit is a multifunctional serine-threonine protein kinase that plays a crucial role in DNA double-strand damage repair via nonhomologous end joining.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
To investigate the therapeutic potential of DNA-PK targeting in STS, we first evaluated the prognostic value of DNA-PK expression in two large cohorts of patients with STS. We then used the potent and selective DNA-PK inhibitor AZD7648 compound to investigate the antitumor effect of the pharmacologic inhibition of DNA-PK in vitro via MTT, apoptosis, cell cycle, and proliferation assays. In vivo studies were performed with patient-derived xenograft models to evaluate the effects of AZD7648 in combination with chemotherapy or ionizing radiation on tumor growth. The mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to DNA-PK inhibition were investigated by using a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 positive screen.
RESULTS
DNA-PK overexpression is significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients with sarcomas. Selective pharmacologic inhibition of DNA-PK strongly synergizes with radiation- and doxorubicin-based regimen in sarcoma models. By using a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 positive screen, we identified genes involved in sensitivity to DNA-PK inhibition.
CONCLUSIONS
DNA-PK inhibition deserves clinical investigation to improve response to current therapies in patients with sarcoma.
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