Pharmacological inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) activity in PARP-1 silenced tumour cells increases chemosensitivity to temozolomide and to a N3-adenine selective methylating agent.

We recently demonstrated that poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 is involved in angiogenesis and tumour aggressiveness. In this study we have compared the influence of abrogation of PARP-1 expression by stable gene silencing to that of the pharmacological inhibition of cellular PARP activity using PARP-1/-2 inhibitors on the chemosensitivity of tumour cells to the wide spectrum methylating agent temozolomide (TMZ) and to the N3-adenine selective methylating agent {1-methyl-4-[1-methyl-4-(3-methoxysulfonylpropanamido)pyrrole-2-carboxamido]-pyrrole-2-carboxamido}propane (Me-Lex). Silencing of PARP-1 in melanoma or cervical carcinoma lines enhanced in vitro sensitivity to TMZ and Me- Lex, and induced a higher level of cell accumulation at the G2/M phase of cell cycle with respect to controls. GPI 15427, which inhibits both PARP-1 and PARP-2, increased sensitivity to TMZ and Me-Lex both in PARP-1-proficient and - deficient cells. However, it induced different cell cycle modulations depending on PARP-1 expression, provoking a G2/M arrest only in PARP-1 silenced cells. Treatment of PARP-1 silenced cells with TMZ or Me-Lex resulted in a more extensive phosphorylation of Chk-1 and p53 as compared to PARP-1 proficient cells. The combination of the methylating agents with GPI 15427 increased Chk-1 and p53 phosphorylation both in PARP-1 proficient or deficient cells. When mice challenged with PARP-1 silenced melanoma cells were treated with the TMZ and PARP inhibitor combination there was an additional reduction in tumour growth with respect to treatment with TMZ alone. These results suggest the involvement of PARP-2 or other PARPs, in the repair of DNA damage provoked by methylating agents, highlighting the importance of targeting both PARP-1 and PARP-2 for cancer therapy.