Abstract 6164: Small-molecule targeting of the NPM1/Rad51 repair pathway for the radiosensitization of cancer
Authors: Sekhar Konjeti R. , Traver Geri , Crooks Peter A. , Freeman Michael L. 
Published: September 2020

Nucleophosmin1 (NPM1) is rapidly recruited to sites of DNA double-strand breaks and is required for radiation-induced Rad51 foci formation. Inhibition of NPM1 or Rad51 is a radiosensitizing event. YTR107 is a small molecule, identified in a forward chemical genetics functional structure/activity screening, that binds to the amino terminus of NPM1 and prevents NPM1 recruitment to damaged chromatin. In silico docking studies of YTR107 and the crystal structure of the NPM1 N-terminal oligomerization domain revealed that YTR107 docked to monomeric NPM1 in a pocket crucial for forming an interface between neighboring subunits of the NPM1 pentamer. YTR107 inhibited radiation-induced Rad51 foci formation and repair of DNA DSBs, as measured by a neutral comet assay. Colony formation assays revealed that YTR107 radiosensitized 7 NSCLC lines, HT29 colorectal cancer cells, D54 glioblastoma cells, PANC1 pancreatic cancer cells, and 2 breast cancer cell lines (dose modifying factors of &gt; 1.5; cells irradiated with 300 kVp/10mA X-rays @ 2 Gy/min). Radiosensitization was found to be NPM1-dependent as YTR107 did not radiosensitize an NPM1 null mouse embryo fibroblast cell line. YTR107 produced a 4.7 fold increase in HT29 xenograft growth delay (time required for the tumor to increase 4-fold in volume (p = 0.001) following 10 mg/kg YTR107 administered 30 min prior to administering 3 Gy to the tumor for 7 consecutive days). YTR107 increased the survival of A549 tumor-bearing mice determined 70 days after the last treatment. Survival of tumor-bearing mice was 60% for mice treated with YTR107 and 3 Gy vs 20% for mice treated with 3 Gy alone, p = 0.0012 (0 or 20 mg/kg YTR107 administered 1 hr prior to 0 or 2.2 Gy being administered to the tumor for 7 consecutive days). Female C57BL/6J mice were administered 0 or 10 mg/kg i.p. YTR107 for 5 consecutive days. Thirty five days after injection mice were euthanized and subjected to necropsy by a veterinarian trained in veterinary pathology. Gross and histological examination of liver, lung, thymus, heart, spleen, cerebellum, pancreas, small intestine, kidney, and adrenal gland did not reveal evidence of toxicity. Both a complete blood count and a white blood cell differential count were performed. No significant differences were noted. Mice were subjected to five daily injections of 30 mg/kg YTR107. This dose level was also tolerated without overt toxicity after 35 days. Mice were injected with 0 or 30 mg/kg YTR107 (i.p.) and 30 min later administered 0 or 16-Gy to the thorax. Pulmonary fibrotic lesions were quantified using respiratory-gated micro CT 136 days later. YTR107 did not increase the severity of radiation-induced lung fibrosis and did not affect body weights or life span of unirradiated or irradiated mice (p &gt; 0.05) over the 136-day study. Thus, this study provides support for development of YTR107 as a therapeutic radiation sensitizer and was supported in part by R44CA228756-02

Citation Format: Konjeti R. Sekhar, Geri Traver, Peter A. Crooks, Michael L. Freeman. Small-molecule targeting of the NPM1/Rad51 repair pathway for the radiosensitization of cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 6164.