PTEN deficiency sensitizes endometrioid endometrial cancer to compound PARP-PI3K inhibition but not PARP inhibition as monotherapy

Oncogene. 2018 Jan 18;37(3):341-351. doi: 10.1038/onc.2017.326. Epub 2017 Sep 25.

Abstract

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have emerged as promising cancer therapeutics especially for tumors with deficient homologous recombination (HR) repair. However, as HR-deficient tumors represent only a small fraction of endometrial cancers, the therapeutic utility of PARP inhibitors is limited in this disease. Somatic loss of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), a tumor suppressor that counteracts phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activity, is one of the most common genetic aberrations in endometrioid endometrial cancer. While previous works have identified the role of PTEN in DNA double-strand break repair, vulnerabilities of PTEN-deficient endometrioid endometrial cancers to PARP inhibition remain controversial. Here we find that PTEN-deficient endometrioid endometrial cancer cells are not responsive to PARP inhibitor Olaparib alone, but instead show superior sensitivity to compound inhibition with PI3K inhibitor BKM120, as evidenced by reduced clonogenic cell growth and three-dimensional (3D) spheroid disintegration. Mechanistically, PI3K blockade by BKM120 attenuated HR competency with γH2AX accumulation and reduced RAD51 and BRCA1 expression in Ishikawa, AN3CA and Nou-1 cells, but the same combination treatment led to enhanced phosphorylation of DNA-PK, a non-homologous end joining repair protein, in Hec-108 cells. Furthermore, we show that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated PTEN depletion rendered PTEN wild-type Hec-1A endometrioid endometrial cancer cells responsive to combined inhibition of PARP/PI3K, with concomitantly induced DNA damage accumulation and repair defects. The combination of BKM120 and Olaparib cooperated to inhibit tumor growth in a genetic mouse model of Pten-deficient endometrioid endometrial cancer. Together, these results suggest PI3K inhibition may be a plausible approach to expand the utility of PARP inhibitors to endometrioid endometrial cancers in a PTEN-deficient setting.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aminopyridines / pharmacology
  • Aminopyridines / therapeutic use
  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / pharmacology*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems
  • Carcinoma, Endometrioid / drug therapy*
  • Carcinoma, Endometrioid / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Endometrioid / pathology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / genetics
  • Endometrial Neoplasms / pathology
  • Endometrium / drug effects
  • Endometrium / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Morpholines / pharmacology
  • Morpholines / therapeutic use
  • Neoplasms, Experimental / drug therapy
  • Neoplasms, Experimental / genetics
  • Neoplasms, Experimental / pathology
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase / deficiency*
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase / genetics
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors
  • Phthalazines / pharmacology
  • Phthalazines / therapeutic use
  • Piperazines / pharmacology
  • Piperazines / therapeutic use
  • Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Recombinational DNA Repair / drug effects
  • Spheroids, Cellular / drug effects
  • Spheroids, Cellular / pathology

Substances

  • Aminopyridines
  • Morpholines
  • NVP-BKM120
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors
  • Phthalazines
  • Piperazines
  • Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • PARP1 protein, human
  • Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1
  • PTEN Phosphohydrolase
  • PTEN protein, human
  • Pten protein, mouse
  • olaparib