Effect of inhibition of receptor tyrosine kinase AXL by a selective small molecular inhibitor R428 (BGB321) on DNA damage repair response in ovarian cancer cells.
e15640 Background: AXL is a receptor tyrosine kinase that is often overexpressed in many cancers. It contributes to tumor progression, metastasis and drug resistance through activating downstream signaling cascades, making it an emerging therapeutic target. The first-in-class AXL inhibitor R428 (BGB321) was approved by the FDA for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia. R428 (BGB321) was also reported to show selective sensitivity towards ovarian cancers (OC) with a Mesenchymal (Mes) molecular subtype. Recently, a novel role of AXL in the regulation of DNA damage responses has been described. In this study, we explored further the role of AXL in mediating DNA damage responses by using OC as a disease model. Methods: OC cell lines were treated with R428. Accumulation of γH2AX positive foci was assessed for DNA damage response. Western blotting for γH2AX, ATM and ATR levels were performed. Dose response curves of ATR inhibitors were generated by treating OC cells with the fixed dose of R428 (IC20 concentration of each cell line). Results: AXL inhibition by using R428 resulted in the increase of DNA damage foci in Mes OC cells SKOV3 and HeyA8. This occurred concurrently with the up-regulation of classic DNA damage response signaling molecules such as γH2AX, ATM and ATR. The IC50 of the ATR inhibitor significantly decreased for 2-3 folds in all OC cell lines tested. AXL inhibitor R428 sensitized both BRCA-mutated and non-BRCA-mutated OC cells to a potent and highly selective ATR inhibitor. Conclusions: Our results showed that AXL inhibition rendered cells more sensitive to the inhibition of ATR, a crucial mediator for replication stress, paving ways to the rationale for potential combinatory use of AXL and DNA damage repair inhibitors.