Enhanced dependency of KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer cells on RAD51-dependent homologous recombination repair identified from genetic interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version

Version of Record (VoR)

Author(s)
Kalimutho, Murugan
Bain, Amanda L
Mukherjee, Bipasha
Nag, Purba
Nanayakkara, Devathri M
Harten, Sarah K
Harris, Janelle L
Subramanian, Goutham N
Sinha, Debottam
Shirasawa, Senji
Srihari, Sriganesh
Burma, Sandeep
Khanna, Kum Kum
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2017
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

Activating KRAS mutations drive colorectal cancer tumorigenesis and influence response to anti-EGFR-targeted therapy. Despite recent advances in understanding Ras signaling biology and the revolution in therapies for melanoma using BRAF inhibitors, no targeted agents have been effective in KRAS-mutant cancers, mainly due to activation of compensatory pathways. Here, by leveraging the largest synthetic lethal genetic interactome in yeast, we identify that KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer cells have augmented homologous recombination repair (HRR) signaling. We found that KRAS mutation resulted in slowing and stalling of the replication fork and accumulation of DNA damage. Moreover, we found that KRAS-mutant HCT116 cells have an increase in MYC-mediated RAD51 expression with a corresponding increase in RAD51 recruitment to irradiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) compared to genetically complemented isogenic cells. MYC depletion using RNA interference significantly reduced IR-induced RAD51 foci formation and HRR. On the contrary, overexpression of either HA-tagged wild-type (WT) MYC or phospho-mutant S62A increased RAD51 protein levels and hence IR-induced RAD51 foci. Likewise, depletion of RAD51 selectively induced apoptosis in HCT116-mutant cells by increasing DSBs. Pharmacological inhibition targeting HRR signaling combined with PARP inhibition selectivity killed KRAS-mutant cells. Interestingly, these differences were not seen in a second isogenic pair of KRAS WT and mutant cells (DLD-1), likely due to their nondependency on the KRAS mutation for survival. Our data thus highlight a possible mechanism by which KRAS-mutant-dependent cells drive HRR in vitro by upregulating MYC-RAD51 expression. These data may offer a promising therapeutic vulnerability in colorectal cancer cells harboring otherwise nondruggable KRAS mutations, which warrants further investigation in vivo.

Journal Title

Molecular Oncology

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

11

Issue

5

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2017 The Authors. Published by FEBS Press and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Oncology and carcinogenesis

Oncology and carcinogenesis not elsewhere classified

Persistent link to this record
Citation
Collections