Abstract 6263: Lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A (KDM1A/LSD1) inhibition attenuates DNA double-strand break repair and augments efficacy of temozolomide in glioblastoma
Authors: Alejo Salvador , Palacios Bridgitte , Venkata Prabhakar Pitta , Yi He , Li Wenjing , Johnson Jessica , Jayamohan Sridharan , Zhao Weixing , Zheng Siyuan , Suzuki Takayoshi , Tekmal Rajeshwar R. , Brenner Andrew , Vadlamudi Ratna K. , Sareddy Gangadhara R. 
Published: April 2023

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) patients face a dismal prognosis, with median survival of ~15 months and 5-year survival rate of 6.8%. Standard of care includes surgical resection, external beam radiation therapy, and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ). Unfortunately, all GBM patients succumb to their disease. Glioma stem cells (GSCs), a GBM subpopulation, possess enhanced DNA repair that contributes to chemoradiotherapy resistance. The epigenetic modifier lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A (KDM1A/LSD1) is overexpressed in GBM and emerging studies show KDM1A is implicated in DNA damage response. This study aims to determine the significance of KDM1A to promote DNA repair in GSCs. We hypothesize KDM1A inhibition augments therapeutic efficacy of TMZ via attenuation of DNA repair pathways.

Methods: Patient-derived GSCs were obtained via IRB-approved protocol from patient samples at UT Health San Antonio. KDM1A knockdown and knockout cells were generated by transduction of validated KDM1A-specific shRNA or gRNA, respectively. Brain bioavailability of KDM1A inhibitor NCD38 was established using LS-MS/MS. Effect of combination KDM1A knockdown or inhibition with TMZ was studied using cell viability, neurosphere, and self-renewal assays. Mechanistic studies were conducted using CUT&Tag-seq, RNA-seq, immunofluorescence, comet, Western blotting, RT-qPCR, homologous recombination (HR), and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) reporter assays. In vivo efficacy of KDM1A knockdown or inhibitor alongside TMZ was determined using orthotopic murine GBM models.

Results: GBM patient data sets showed KDM1A is elevated in recurrent GBM versus primary tumors. KDM1A knockdown, knockout, or pharmacological inhibition increased efficacy of TMZ in reducing cell viability and self-renewal of GSCs. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated KDM1A inhibitor NCD38 is readily brain penetrable. CUT&Tag-seq studies showed KDM1A is enriched at the promoters of DNA repair genes. RNA-seq studies confirmed that KDM1A inhibition reduced expression of DNA repair-related genes. RT-qPCR and Western blotting validated downregulation of DNA double-strand break repair genes. Knockdown, knockout, or inhibition of KDM1A attenuated HR and NHEJ-mediated DNA repair capacity. Immunofluorescence and comet assay demonstrated increased TMZ-mediated DNA damage in NCD38-treated GSCs. Importantly, KDM1A knockdown or inhibition enhanced efficacy of TMZ and significantly improved survival of mice bearing orthotopic GBM tumors.

Conclusions: Our results provide compelling evidence KDM1A is essential for DNA repair in GSCs and KDM1A inhibition sensitizes GBM to TMZ via attenuation of DNA repair pathways. These findings suggest combination therapy of KDM1A inhibitor NCD38 with TMZ is a potential novel therapeutic strategy to improve GBM outcomes.

Citation Format: Salvador Alejo, Bridgitte Palacios, Prabhakar Pitta Venkata, He Yi, Wenjing Li, Jessica Johnson, Sridharan Jayamohan, Weixing Zhao, Siyuan Zheng, Takayoshi Suzuki, Rajeshwar R. Tekmal, Andrew Brenner, Ratna K. Vadlamudi, Gangadhara R. Sareddy. Lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A (KDM1A/LSD1) inhibition attenuates DNA double-strand break repair and augments efficacy of temozolomide in glioblastoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 6263.