Abstract 3792: PAPSS1 (3’-phosphoadenosine 5’-phosphosulfate synthase 1) inhibition sensitizes non-small cell lung cancer to cisplatin treatment in vivo
Authors: Leung Ada W.Y. , Veinotte Chansey J. , Melong Nicole , Backstrom Ian , Warburton Corinna , Dullaghan Edie , Berman Jason N. , Bally Marcel B. 
Published: July 2016

We previously reported that 3’-phosphoadenosine-5’-phosphosulfate (PAPS) synthase 1 (PAPSS1), an enzyme that synthesizes the biologically active form of sulfate (PAPS) for all sulfation reactions, is a novel therapeutic target that when suppressed enhances the activity of multiple DNA damaging agents in NSCLC cells. PAPSS1 was the lead hit in a synthetic lethal screen completed using chemotherapy-naive NSCLC cells exposed to the IC10 of cisplatin (CDDP). PAPSS1 silencing was more effective in potentiating CDDP activity than our positive control (BRACA2). Here, we evaluated PAPSS1 as a CDDP-sensitizing target in three different model systems: 3D spheroids, zebrafish xenografts, and a mouse xenograft model. siRNA-transfected A549 cells were seeded in round bottom ultra-low attachment plates for spheroid formation. Spheroids were formed over a period of three days and then treated with CDDP. The spheroids were imaged using the IncuCyte ZOOM® Live Cell Imaging system every 3 hours for 8 days to monitor changes in spheroid size. To evaluate PAPSS1 in zebrafish, transfected A549 cells were microinjected into the yolk sack of zebrafish embryos and then maintained in CDDP-containing media for 48 hours. The human cells were harvested from 20 fish per treatment group and counted to determine the change in cell number as a measure of tumor growth in vivo. For mouse studies, RAG2M mice were inoculated subcutaneously with 5×106 parental, non-targeting shRNA, or shPAPSS1-expressing A549 cells. The mice were treated 7 days later with 3 mg/kg CDDP (IV, Q4Dx3). Tumor size was measured using an electronic caliper and tumor volumes were calculated using the equation (lxw2)/2. PAPSS1-silenced cells formed spheroids of comparable size as the scramble control. CDDP (12.5μM) was effective against both control and PAPSS1-silenced spheroids with a reduction of 31% and 46% in spheroid size, respectively. PAPSS1-knockdown spheroids were significantly more sensitive to CDDP even when added at an 8-fold lower dose (1.56 μM). At this concentration, the control spheroids grew about 37% in size while the size of the PAPSS1-silenced spheroids was reduced by 21% (p&lt;0.0001). In zebrafish, the number of A549 cells was reduced by approximately 50% with the combination of PAPSS1 knockdown and CDDP treatment relative to non-silencing, CDDP-treated controls. In mice, tumor development was significantly delayed in the shPAPSS1 group relative to both parental (p = 0.008) and non-targeting shRNA (p = 0.026) controls following CDDP treatment. Our study demonstrates for the first time that PAPSS1 knockdown enhances CDDP treatment in vivo. To pursue PAPSS1 as a therapeutic target, a small molecule inhibitor screen is warranted. The availability of a small molecule inhibitor will be essential to understand how PAPSS1 inhibition sensitizes cancer cells (but not normal cells) to DNA damaging agents.

Citation Format: Ada W.Y. Leung, Chansey J. Veinotte, Nicole Melong, Ian Backstrom, Corinna Warburton, Edie Dullaghan, Jason N. Berman, Marcel B. Bally. PAPSS1 (3’-phosphoadenosine 5’-phosphosulfate synthase 1) inhibition sensitizes non-small cell lung cancer to cisplatin treatment in vivo. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3792.