Abstract B006: Targeting BARD1 in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: How to expand the target population of vulnerable tumors?
Authors: Jain Aditi , Kusurkar Rutuj P. , Jenkins Eleanor , Nevler Avinoam , Jiang Wei , Yeo Charles J. 
Published: January 2024

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the deadliest malignancy of the pancreas, with an overall five-year survival rate of only 12%. Despite therapeutic advances, effective therapies are still limited. It is now known that many of the DNA damage repair (DDR) genes that are mutated in PDAC are crucial for the proper functioning of the homologous recombination repair (HRR) pathway. Loss-of-function alterations in DDR genes such as BRCA1/2 mutations render PDAC cells vulnerable to certain DNA damage agents, for example, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) and platinum-based agents. Since this treatment strategy is currently limited to only 5-10% of PDAC patients, it underscores a dire need to find new therapeutic avenues and expand the PDAC patient population that could benefit from these therapies. We have recently published that BARD1 (BRCA1- Associated- Ring- Domain- 1), an obligate binding partner of BRCA1 in the process of HRR, is upregulated in PDAC cells exposed to PARPi/platinums. PDAC tissue microarray stained for BARD1 also shows higher BARD1 expression in PDAC tissues compared to normal pancreas. Here, we explored the effects of targeting BARD1 on PDAC cells. For this, we created genetic models of BARD1 inhibition and utilized these model systems to study if loss of BARD1 slows PDAC growth, invasion, and chemo-sensitizes PDAC cells to PARPis and DNA damage agents. Doxycycline inducible shRNA and BARD1 CRISPR KO models were created to inhibit gene expression of BARD1 in PDAC cells. Loss of BARD1 protein and mRNA expression was confirmed by western blot and qRT-PCR analyses. Using colony formation assays, Pico green cell survival assays, and Boyden matrigel invasion assays, we found that inhibition of BARD1 resulted in slower growth and decrease in invasion of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. The expression levels of EMT markers such as zeb-1 and vimentin, were also decreased. These studies were recapitulated in a mouse xenograft subcutaneous model, where BARD1 CRISPR KO (+/- and -/-) and WT PDAC cells were injected subcutaneously on flanks of mice and tumor growth was monitored over time. Kaplan Meier curves were calculated and plotted using Log-rank test. We found that inhibiting BARD1 significantly (P=0.026) delayed PDAC tumor growth in vivo and extended survival (P&lt;0.001). CRISPR KO of BARD1 also enhanced the efficacies of PARP inhibitors like olaparib, rucaparib and veliparib, and lowered their IC50s (fold changes &gt;10). Our work indicates that targeting BARD1 affects key hallmarks of cancer (growth and invasion), such that the window of therapeutic opportunity is extended, which further allows chemo-sensitization of PDAC cells to DNA damaging agents. Our ongoing studies will explore if BARD1 loss is a predictive marker of PDAC sensitivity to other DNA-damaging agents besides PARPi and allow the development of therapeutic strategies to target BARD1 in PDAC.

Citation Format: Aditi Jain, Rutuj P. Kusurkar, Eleanor Jenkins, Avinoam Nevler, Wei Jiang, Charles J. Yeo. Targeting BARD1 in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: How to expand the target population of vulnerable tumors? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: DNA Damage Repair: From Basic Science to Future Clinical Application; 2024 Jan 9-11; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B006.