Abstract
Atif J. Khan1,2, Sarah M. Misenko3, Aditya Thandoni2, Devora Schiff2, Sachin R. Jhawar2, Samuel F. Bunting3 and Bruce G. Haffty2
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10011, USA
2Department of Radiation Oncology, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
3Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
Correspondence to:
Atif J. Khan, email: khana7@mskcc.org
Keywords: DNA-PK; non-homologous end joining; DNA repair; double-strand break repair; radiation therapy
Received: December 05, 2017 Accepted: April 25, 2018 Published: May 25, 2018
ABSTRACT
Purpose: DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or homologous recombination (HR). We demonstrate the selectivity of VX-984, a DNA-PK inhibitor, using assays not previously reported.
Experimental Design: The class switch recombination assay (CSR) in primary B cells was used to measure efficiency of NHEJ. A cellular reporter assay (U2OS EJ-DR) was used to assess the efficiency of HR and NHEJ in cells treated with VX-984. Immunofluorescence assays (IF) evaluated γ-H2AX foci for DSB repair kinetics in human astrocytes and T98G glioma cells. Western blotting was used to evaluate phosphorylation of DNA-PKcs substrates.
Results: We found a dose-dependent reduction in CSR efficiency with VX-984, and through the EJ-DR assay, dramatic dose-dependent increases in HR and mNHEJ. Immunofluorescence assays showed an inability of malignant cells to resolve γ-H2AX foci in the presence of VX-984. Radiation-induced phosphorylation of DNA-PK substrates was further reduced by treatment with VX-984.
Conclusions: VX-984 efficiently inhibits NHEJ, resulting in compensatory increases in alternative repair pathways, increases DSBs, and appears to affect transformed cells preferentially.