Berardinelli F, Siteni S, Tanzarella C, Stevens M F, Sgura A, Antoccia A
Department of Science, Università "Roma Tre", Rome, Italy; INFN Roma Tre, Rome, Italy.
Department of Science, Università "Roma Tre", Rome, Italy; Department of Hematology, Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
DNA Repair (Amst). 2015 Jan;25:104-15. doi: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2014.10.009. Epub 2014 Nov 5.
G-quadruplex (G4) interacting agents are a class of ligands that can bind to and stabilise secondary structures located in genomic G-rich regions such as telomeres. Stabilisation of G4 leads to telomere architecture disruption with a consequent detrimental effect on cell proliferation, which makes these agents good candidates for chemotherapeutic purposes. RHPS4 is one of the most effective and well-studied G4 ligands with a very high specificity for telomeric G4. In this work, we tested the in vitro efficacy of RHPS4 in astrocytoma cell lines, and we evaluated whether RHPS4 can act as a radiosensitising agent by destabilising telomeres. In the first part of the study, the response to RHPS4 was investigated in four human astrocytoma cell lines (U251MG, U87MG, T67 and T70) and in two normal primary fibroblast strains (AG01522 and MRC5). Cell growth reduction, histone H2AX phosphorylation and telomere-induced dysfunctional foci (TIF) formation were markedly higher in astrocytoma cells than in normal fibroblasts, despite the absence of telomere shortening. In the second part of the study, the combined effect of submicromolar concentrations of RHPS4 and X-rays was assessed in the U251MG glioblastoma radioresistant cell line. Long-term growth curves, cell cycle analysis and cell survival experiments, clearly showed the synergistic effect of the combined treatment. Interestingly the effect was greater in cells bearing a higher number of dysfunctional telomeres. DNA double-strand breaks rejoining after irradiation revealed delayed repair kinetics in cells pre-treated with the drug and a synergistic increase in chromosome-type exchanges and telomeric fusions. These findings provide the first evidence that exposure to RHPS4 radiosensitizes astrocytoma cells, suggesting the potential for future therapeutic applications.
G-四链体(G4)相互作用剂是一类能够结合并稳定位于基因组富含G区域(如端粒)的二级结构的配体。G4的稳定会导致端粒结构破坏,进而对细胞增殖产生有害影响,这使得这些试剂成为化疗的良好候选物。RHPS4是最有效且研究充分的G4配体之一,对端粒G4具有非常高的特异性。在这项工作中,我们测试了RHPS4在星形细胞瘤细胞系中的体外疗效,并评估了RHPS4是否能通过破坏端粒来作为放射增敏剂。在研究的第一部分,我们在四种人类星形细胞瘤细胞系(U251MG、U87MG、T67和T70)以及两种正常原代成纤维细胞系(AG01522和MRC5)中研究了对RHPS4的反应。尽管没有端粒缩短,但星形细胞瘤细胞中的细胞生长抑制、组蛋白H2AX磷酸化和端粒诱导的功能障碍灶(TIF)形成明显高于正常成纤维细胞。在研究的第二部分,我们在U251MG胶质母细胞瘤放射抗性细胞系中评估了亚微摩尔浓度的RHPS4和X射线的联合作用。长期生长曲线、细胞周期分析和细胞存活实验清楚地显示了联合治疗的协同作用。有趣的是,在具有更多功能障碍端粒的细胞中,这种作用更大。照射后DNA双链断裂的重新连接显示,用该药物预处理的细胞中修复动力学延迟,并且染色体类型交换和端粒融合协同增加。这些发现提供了第一个证据,即暴露于RHPS4可使星形细胞瘤细胞放射增敏,提示了其未来治疗应用的潜力。