A DNA Repair Inhibitor Isolated from an Ecuadorian Fungal Endophyte Exhibits Synthetic Lethality in PTEN-Deficient Glioblastoma.

Publication Type Academic Article
Authors Adaku N, Park H, Spakowicz D, Tiwari M, Strobel S, Crawford J, Rogers F
Journal J Nat Prod
Volume 83
Issue 6
Pagination 1899-1908
Date Published 05/14/2020
ISSN 1520-6025
Keywords Brain Neoplasms, DNA Repair, Endophytes, Glioblastoma, PTEN Phosphohydrolase, Synthetic Lethal Mutations
Abstract Disruption of the tumor suppressor PTEN, either at the protein or genomic level, plays an important role in human cancer development. The high frequency of PTEN deficiency reported across several cancer subtypes positions therapeutic approaches that exploit PTEN loss-of-function with the ability to significantly impact the treatment strategies of a large patient population. Here, we report that an endophytic fungus isolated from a medicinal plant produces an inhibitor of DNA double-strand-break repair. Furthermore, the novel alkaloid product, which we have named irrepairzepine (1), demonstrated synthetic lethal targeting in PTEN-deficient glioblastoma cells. Our results uncover a new therapeutic lead for PTEN-deficient cancers and an important molecular tool toward enhancing the efficacy of current cancer treatments.
DOI 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00012
PubMed ID 32407116
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