A ”Clickable” Probe for Active MGMT in Glioblastoma Demonstrates Two Discrete Populations of MGMT

Various pathways can repair DNA alkylation by chemotherapeutic agents such as temozolomide (TMZ). The enzyme O6-methylguanine methyltransferase (MGMT) removes O6-methylated DNA adducts, leading to the failure of chemotherapy in resistant glioblastomas. Because of the anti-chemotherapeutic activities of MGMT previously described, estimating the levels of active MGMT in cancer cells can be a significant predictor of response to alkylating agents. Current methods to detect MGMT in cells are indirect, complicated, time-intensive, or utilize molecules that require complex and multistep chemistry synthesis. Our design simulates DNA repair by the transfer of a clickable propargyl group from O6-propargyl guanine to active MGMT and subsequent attachment of fluorescein-linked PEG linker via ”click chemistry.” Visualization of active MGMT levels reveals discrete active and inactive MGMT populations with biphasic kinetics for MGMT inactivation in response to TMZ-induced DNA damage.

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Lactate Upregulates the Expression of DNA Repair Genes, Causing Intrinsic Resistance of Cancer Cells to Cisplatin

Pathology & Oncology Research ◽

10.3389/pore.2021.1609951 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 ◽

Author(s):

Marzia Govoni ◽

Valentina Rossi ◽

Giuseppina Di Stefano ◽

Marcella Manerba

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Dna Repair ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cellular Response ◽

Regulation Of Gene Expression ◽

Dna Recombination ◽

Chemotherapeutic Agents ◽

Glycolytic Metabolism ◽

Intrinsic Resistance ◽

The Impact

Intrinsic or acquired drug resistance is one of the major problems compromising the success of antineoplastic treatments. Several evidences correlated some therapeutic failures with changes in cell metabolic asset and in line with these findings, hindering the glycolytic metabolism of cancer cells via lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) inhibition was found to overcome the resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. Lactate, the product of LDH reaction, was shown to be involved in epigenetic regulation of gene expression. The experiments described in this paper were aimed at highlighting a possible direct effect of lactate in modifying the response of cancer cells to a chemotherapeutic treatment. To discriminate between the effects potentially caused by glycolytic metabolism from those directly referable to lactate, we selected cancer cell lines able to grow in glucose deprived conditions and evaluated the impact of lactate on the cellular response to cisplatin-induced DNA damage. In lactate-exposed cells we observed a reduced efficacy of cisplatin, which was associated with reduced signatures of DNA damage, enhanced DNA recombination competence and increased expression of a panel of genes involved in DNA repair. The identified genes take part in mismatch and nucleotide excision repair pathways, which were found to contribute in restoring the cisplatin-induced DNA damage. The obtained results suggest that this metabolite could play a role in reducing the efficacy of antineoplastic treatments.

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DNA Double Strand Breaks Repair Inhibitors: Relevance as Potential New Anticancer Therapeutics

Current Medicinal Chemistry ◽

10.2174/0929867325666180214113154 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 26 (8) ◽

pp. 1483-1493 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Paulina Kopa ◽

Anna Macieja ◽

Grzegorz Galita ◽

Zbigniew J. Witczak ◽

Tomasz Poplawski

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Dna Repair ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Clinical Success ◽

Alkylating Agents ◽

Parp Inhibitors ◽

Double Strand Breaks ◽

Dna Double Strand Breaks ◽

Replication Process ◽

Strand Breaks

DNA double-strand breaks are considered one of the most lethal forms of DNA damage. Many effective anticancer therapeutic approaches used chemical and physical methods to generate DNA double-strand breaks in the cancer cells. They include: IR and drugs which mimetic its action, topoisomerase poisons, some alkylating agents or drugs which affected DNA replication process. On the other hand, cancer cells are mostly characterized by highly effective systems of DNA damage repair. There are two main DNA repair pathways used to fix double-strand breaks: NHEJ and HRR. Their activity leads to a decreased effect of chemotherapy. Targeting directly or indirectly the DNA double-strand breaks response by inhibitors seems to be an exciting option for anticancer therapy and is a part of novel trends that arise after the clinical success of PARP inhibitors. These trends will provide great opportunities for the development of DNA repair inhibitors as new potential anticancer drugs. The main objective of this article is to address these new promising advances.

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Platinum Complexes in Colorectal Cancer and Other Solid Tumors

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13092073 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 2073

Author(s):

Beate Köberle ◽

Sarah Schoch

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Dna Damage ◽

Dna Repair ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cisplatin Resistance ◽

Platinum Complexes ◽

Dna Lesions ◽

Dna Damage Signaling ◽

Repair Mechanisms ◽

P53 Inactivation

Cisplatin is one of the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of various solid neoplasms, including testicular, lung, ovarian, head and neck, and bladder cancers. Unfortunately, the therapeutic efficacy of cisplatin against colorectal cancer is poor. Various mechanisms appear to contribute to cisplatin resistance in cancer cells, including reduced drug accumulation, enhanced drug detoxification, modulation of DNA repair mechanisms, and finally alterations in cisplatin DNA damage signaling preventing apoptosis in cancer cells. Regarding colorectal cancer, defects in mismatch repair and altered p53-mediated DNA damage signaling are the main factors controlling the resistance phenotype. In particular, p53 inactivation appears to be associated with chemoresistance and poor prognosis. To overcome resistance in cancers, several strategies can be envisaged. Improved cisplatin analogues, which retain activity in resistant cancer, might be applied. Targeting p53-mediated DNA damage signaling provides another therapeutic strategy to circumvent cisplatin resistance. This review provides an overview on the DNA repair pathways involved in the processing of cisplatin damage and will describe signal transduction from cisplatin DNA lesions, with special attention given to colorectal cancer cells. Furthermore, examples for improved platinum compounds and biochemical modulators of cisplatin DNA damage signaling will be presented in the context of colon cancer therapy.

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Advances and perspectives of PARP inhibitors

Experimental Hematology and Oncology ◽

10.1186/s40164-019-0154-9 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Ming Yi ◽

Bing Dong ◽

Shuang Qin ◽

Qian Chu ◽

Kongming Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Dna Repair ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Genome Instability ◽

Single Gene ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Lethal Effect ◽

Single Strand Break ◽

Synthetic Lethal ◽

Increased Risk

Abstract DNA damage repair deficiency leads to the increased risk of genome instability and oncogenic transformation. In the meanwhile, this deficiency could be exploited for cancer treatment by inducing excessive genome instability and catastrophic DNA damage. Continuous DNA replication in cancer cells leads to higher demand of DNA repair components. Due to the oncogenic loss of some DNA repair effectors (e.g. BRCA) and incomplete DNA repair repertoire, some cancer cells are addicted to certain DNA repair pathways such as Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-related single-strand break repair pathway. The interaction between BRCA and PARP is a form of synthetic lethal effect which means the simultaneously functional loss of two genes lead to cell death, while defect in any single gene has a slight effect on cell viability. Based on synthetic lethal theory, Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor (PARPi) was developed aiming to selectively target cancer cells harboring BRCA1/2 mutations. Recently, a growing body of evidence indicated that a broader population of patients could benefit from PARPi therapy far beyond those with germline BRCA1/2 mutated tumors. Numerous biomarkers including homologous recombination deficiency and high level of replication pressure also herald high sensitivity to PARPi treatment. Besides, a series of studies indicated that PARPi-involved combination therapy such as PARPi with additional chemotherapy therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitor, as well as targeted agent had a great advantage in overcoming PARPi resistance and enhancing PARPi efficacy. In this review, we summarized the advances of PARPi in clinical application. Besides, we highlighted multiple promising PARPi-based combination strategies in preclinical and clinical studies.

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Variability in DNA repair and individual susceptibility to genotoxins

Clinical Chemistry ◽

10.1093/clinchem/41.12.1848 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 41 (12) ◽

pp. 1848-1853 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

S A Kyrtopoulos

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Dna Repair ◽

Protective Role ◽

Interindividual Variation ◽

Human Populations ◽

Cytostatic Drugs ◽

Dna Damage And Repair ◽

Cellular Protection ◽

Methylated Dna ◽

Methylating Agents

Abstract DNA repair is an important mechanism of cellular protection from the effects of genotoxic chemicals. Although extensive evidence from studies in experimental systems indicates that variation in DNA repair can significantly influence susceptibility to genotoxins, corresponding studies in human populations are so far limited, mainly because of methodological difficulties. One system, using observations of the accumulation and repair of DNA damage in cancer patients treated with alkylating cytostatic drugs, has provided useful information for assessing the effects of interindividual variation in DNA repair activity on the induction of genotoxic effects in humans. The most detailed studies of this kind have been carried out on patients with cancer (i.e., Hodgkin disease, malignant melanoma) treated with the methylating cytostatic drugs procarbazine or dacarbazine; these studies have provided detailed information on dose-response relationships. They have also demonstrated the protective role of the repair enzyme O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase against the accumulation of the premutagenic methylated DNA lesion O6-methylguanine in patients' DNA. Given the strong evidence that exposure of the general population to environmental methylating agents may be extensive, as indicated by the frequent discovery of methylated DNA adducts in human DNA, data on DNA damage and repair in alkylating drug-treated patients and their modulation by host factors may prove useful in efforts to assess the possible carcinogenic risks posed by exposure to environmental methylating agents.

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WIP1 Promotes Homologous Recombination and Modulates Sensitivity to PARP Inhibitors

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells8101258 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. 1258 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kamila Burdova ◽

Radka Storchova ◽

Matous Palek ◽

Libor Macurek

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Dna Repair ◽

Homologous Recombination ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Genotoxic Stress ◽

Parp Inhibitors ◽

Cell Cycle Checkpoint ◽

Dna Lesion ◽

Cycle Checkpoint ◽

G2 Cells

Genotoxic stress triggers a combined action of DNA repair and cell cycle checkpoint pathways. Protein phosphatase 2C delta (referred to as WIP1) is involved in timely inactivation of DNA damage response by suppressing function of p53 and other targets at chromatin. Here we show that WIP1 promotes DNA repair through homologous recombination. Loss or inhibition of WIP1 delayed disappearance of the ionizing radiation-induced 53BP1 foci in S/G2 cells and promoted cell death. We identify breast cancer associated protein 1 (BRCA1) as interactor and substrate of WIP1 and demonstrate that WIP1 activity is needed for correct dynamics of BRCA1 recruitment to chromatin flanking the DNA lesion. In addition, WIP1 dephosphorylates 53BP1 at Threonine 543 that was previously implicated in mediating interaction with RIF1. Finally, we report that inhibition of WIP1 allowed accumulation of DNA damage in S/G2 cells and increased sensitivity of cancer cells to a poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor olaparib. We propose that inhibition of WIP1 may increase sensitivity of BRCA1-proficient cancer cells to olaparib.

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Inhibition of AKT-Signaling Sensitizes Soft Tissue Sarcomas (STS) and Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) to Doxorubicin via Targeting of Homology-Mediated DNA Repair

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms21228842 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (22) ◽

pp. 8842

Author(s):

Sergei Boichuk ◽

Firuza Bikinieva ◽

Ilmira Nurgatina ◽

Pavel Dunaev ◽

Elena Valeeva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Dna Repair ◽

Soft Tissue ◽

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors ◽

Topoisomerase Ii ◽

Soft Tissue Sarcomas ◽

Akt Signaling ◽

Chemotherapeutic Agents ◽

Tail Moment ◽

Stromal Tumors

Activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mTOR pathway is well documented for a broad spectrum of human malignancies supporting their growth and progression. Accumulating evidence has also implicated AKT as a potent modulator of anti-cancer therapies via regulation of DNA damage response and repair (DDR) induced by certain chemotherapeutic agents and ionizing radiation (IR). In the present study, we examined the role of AKT signaling in regulating of Rad51 turnover and cytotoxic effects of topoisomerase II inhibitor, doxorubicin (Dox) in soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in vitro. Blocking of AKT signaling (MK-2206) enhanced cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic effects of Dox in vast majority of STS and GIST cell lines. The phosphorylated form of Akt co-immunoprecipitates with Rad51 after Dox-induced DNA damage, whereas Akt inhibition interrupts this interaction and decreases Rad51 protein level by enhancing protein instability via proteasome-dependent degradation. Inhibition of Akt signaling in Dox-treated cells was associated with the increased number of γ-H2AX-positive cells, decrease of Rad51 foci formation and its colocalization with γ-H2AX foci, thereby revealing unsuccessful DDR events. This was also in consistency with an increase of tail moment (TM) and olive tail moment (OTM) in Dox-treated GIST and STS cells cultured in presence of Akt inhibitor after Dox washout. Altogether, our data illustrates that inhibition of AKT signaling is STS and GIST might potentiate the cytotoxic effect of topoisomerase II inhibitors via attenuating the homology-mediated DNA repair.

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Diversity of the Senescence Phenotype of Cancer Cells Treated with Chemotherapeutic Agents

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells8121501 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 1501 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Agnieszka Bojko ◽

Joanna Czarnecka-Herok ◽

Agata Charzynska ◽

Michal Dabrowski ◽

Ewa Sikora

Keyword(s):

Dna Damage ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Chemotherapeutic Agents ◽

Double Stranded Dna ◽

Secretory Phenotype ◽

Paclitaxel Treatment ◽

Senescence Phenotype ◽

Mcf 7 ◽

Intermediate Effect

It is acknowledged that cancer cells are able to undergo senescence in response to clinically used chemotherapeutics. Moreover, recent years have provided evidence that some drugs can selectively remove senescent cells. Therefore, it is essential to properly identify and characterize senescent cells, especially when it comes to cancer. Senescence was induced in various cancer cell lines (A549, SH-SY-5Y, HCT116, MDA-MB-231, and MCF-7) following treatment with doxorubicin, irinotecan, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, or paclitaxel. Treatment with tested chemotherapeutics resulted in upregulation of p21 and proliferation arrest without cytotoxicity. A comparative analysis with the use of common senescence markers (i.e., morphology, SA-β-galactosidase, granularity, secretory phenotype, and the level of double-stranded DNA damage) revealed a large diversity in response to the chemotherapeutics used. The strongest senescence inducers were doxorubicin, irinotecan, and methotrexate; paclitaxel had an intermediate effect and oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil did not induce senescence. In addition, different susceptibility of cancer cells to senescence was observed. A statistical analysis aimed at finding any relationship between the senescence markers applied did not show clear correlations. Moreover, increased SA-β-gal activity coupled with p21 expression proved not to be an unequivocal senescence marker. This points to a need to simultaneously analyze multiple markers, given their individual limitations.

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