Abstract 4437: Regulation of FANCD2 by the mTOR pathway contributes to the resistance of cancer cells to DNA double strand breaks.

Abstract

Abstract Deregulation of the mTOR pathway is closely associated with tumorigenesis. Accordingly mTOR inhibitors such as rapamycin and mTOR-selective kinase inhibitors have been tested as cancer therapeutic agents. Inhibition of mTOR results in sensitization to DNA damaging agents, however the molecular mechanism is not well understood. We found that a mTOR-selective kinase inhibitor, AZD8055, significantly enhanced sensitivity of a pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma xenograft to radiotherapy and sensitized rhabdomyosarcoma cells to interstrand crosslinker (ICL) melphalan. Sensitization correlated with drug-induced downregulation of a key component of the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway, FANCD2 through mTOR regulation of FANCD2 gene transcripts via mTORC1-S6K1. Importantly, we show that FANCD2 is required for the proper activation of ATM-Chk2 checkpoint in response to ICL and that mTOR signaling promotes ICL-induced ATM-Chk2 checkpoint activation by sustaining FANCD2. In FANCD2 deficient lymphoblasts, FANCD2 is essential to suppress endogenous and induced DNA damage, and FANCD2-deficient cells demonstrated impaired ATM-Chk2 and ATR-Chk1 activation, which was rescued by re-introduction of wild type FANCD2. Pharmacological inhibition of PI3K-mTOR-Akt pathway in Rh30 rhabdomyosarcoma cells attenuated ICL-induced activation of ATM, accompanied with the decrease of FANCD2. These data suggest that the mTOR pathway may promote the repair of DNA double strand breaks by sustaining FANCD2 and provide a novel mechanism of how the FA pathway modulates DNA damage response and repair. Citation Format: Changxian Shen, Duane Oswald, Doris Phelps, hakan cam, Christopher E. Pelloski, Qishen Pang, Peter J. Houghton. Regulation of FANCD2 by the mTOR pathway contributes to the resistance of cancer cells to DNA double strand breaks. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4437. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4437