Pisong Li, Xiaoyu Zhu, Hui Qu, Zhongbin Han, Xingyu Yao, Yuan Wei, Baijun Li, Hongshen Chen

Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, Dalian, 116001, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Hongshen Chen, Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, 6 Jiefang Street, Zhongshan District, Dalian, Liaoning, 116001, People’s Republic of China, Email chs_02266@163.com

Purpose: The clinical benefits of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are limited to triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) with BRCA deficiency due to primary and acquired resistance. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop alternative treatment regimens to target BRCA-mutated TNBC tumors that are resistant to PARP inhibition. Similar to PARP, poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) plays a role in DNA replication and repair. However, there are conflicting reports on the vulnerability of BRCA1-deficient tumor cells to PARG inhibition. This study aims to investigate the synergistically lethal effect of the PARG inhibitor COH34 and the ubiquitin-specific protease (USP) 14 inhibitor IU1-248 and the underlying mechanisms in BRCA1-mutant, PARP inhibitor-resistant TNBC cells.
Methods: The cytotoxicity of PARG inhibition alone or in combination with USP14 inhibition in the BRCA-mutant, PARP inhibitor-resistant TNBC cell lines, HCC1937 and SUM149PT, was analyzed using cell viability and proliferation assays and flow cytometry. The molecular mechanisms underlying the synergistic effects of IU1-248 and COH34 were evaluated by immunofluorescence staining, DNA repair reporter assays and Western blot analysis.
Results: It was found that HCC1937 and SUM149PT cells exhibited moderate responsiveness to PARG inhibition alone. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first to demonstrate that the combination of IU1-248 and COH34 produces synergistic effects against TNBC cells in the same setting. Mechanistically, the blockade of USP14 by IU1-248 was shown to increase DNA damage and promote error-prone non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), as evidenced by the accumulation of γH2AX and 53BP1 in the nucleus and the activation of a reporter assay. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the inhibition of NHEJ repair activity attenuates the synergistic effects of concomitant PARG and USP14 inhibition. IU1-248 promotes NHEJ repair through the downregulation of the expression of c-Myc.
Conclusion: USP14 inhibition may be a plausible strategy for expanding the utility of PARG inhibitors in TNBC in BRCA-mutant, PARP inhibitor-resistant settings.

Keywords: PARG, USP14, NHEJ, c-Myc, BRCA, triple-negative breast cancer