Abstract 3747: Translating the functional interactions of checkpoint kinase 2 and the androgen receptor into more effective therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer
Authors: Ta Huy Q. , Dworak Natalia , Sleppy Rosalie , Allende Jeffery A. , Gioeli Daniel 
Published: August 2018

Prostate cancer remains the most diagnosed cancer among men in the United States behind skin cancer, and advanced prostate cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with a 5-year survival rate of 26%. Radiation is the standard of care for the treatment of prostate cancer at the early and late stages. Checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2) is a serine/threonine protein kinase whose main function is regulating the DNA damage response (DDR) induced by ionizing radiation. The androgen receptor (AR) is a major driver of prostate cancer, even at the castration-resistant stage of the disease. The development of the second-generation anti-androgen enzalutamide, which is a selective AR antagonist, highlights the enduring importance of the AR. We have previously demonstrated that CHK2 is a critical negative regulator of prostate cancer cell growth, androgen sensitivity, and AR transcriptional activity. We have now uncovered novel molecular interactions between CHK2 and AR that provide mechanistic insight into our observation that CHK2 regulates prostate cancer growth. The AR directly interacts with CHK2, and that interaction increases with radiation. We found that the interaction of CHK2 and AR occurs at sites of DNA damage. The binding of CHK2 with AR can be disrupted with CHK2 kinase inhibitors suggesting that the kinase activity of CHK2 is required. This was verified using kinase-impaired CHK2 variants, including the K373E variant associated with 4.2% of prostate cancer. Furthermore, the radiation-induced increase in CHK2-AR interactions requires AR phosphorylation on both serine 81 and serine 308. Interestingly, CHK2-depletion in LNCaP cells increases ionizing radiation induced AR expression and DNA damage. Together, these data provide the rationale for targeting the CHK2-AR signaling axis to improve the effectiveness of prostate cancer therapies. The combination of CHK2 or CDK1 inhibitors with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and radiation shows an additive effect on the repression of tumor cell growth. Nearly every patient with disseminated prostate cancer will relapse following ADT and develop incurable castration-resistant prostate cancer. We have uncovered the molecular details of a signaling axis involving CHK2 and AR that, when perturbed in combination with ADT and/or ionizing radiation, effectively inhibits prostate cancer cell growth. This may enable resensitization of castration-resistant prostate cancer to the currently approved treatment options.

Citation Format: Huy Q. Ta, Natalia Dworak, Rosalie Sleppy, Jeffery A. Allende, Daniel Gioeli. Translating the functional interactions of checkpoint kinase 2 and the androgen receptor into more effective therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3747.