Degradation of BRCA2 in alkyltransferase-mediated DNA repair and its clinical implications

Cancer Res. 2008 Dec 1;68(23):9973-81. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-1179.

Abstract

Germ-line mutations in BRCA2 have been linked to early-onset familial breast cancer. BRCA2 is known to play a key role in repairing double-strand breaks. Here, we describe the involvement of BRCA2 in O6-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT)-mediated repair of O6-methylguanine adducts. We show that BRCA2 physically associates and undergoes repair-mediated degradation with AGT. In contrast, BRCA2 with a 29-amino-acid deletion in an evolutionarily conserved domain does not bind to alkylated AGT; the two proteins are not degraded; and mouse embryonic fibroblasts are specifically sensitive to alkylating agents that result in O6-methylguanine adducts. We show that O6-benzylguanine (O6BG), a nontoxic inhibitor of AGT, can also induce BRCA2 degradation. BRCA2 is a viable target for cancer therapy because BRCA2-deficient cells are hypersensitive to chemotherapeutic DNA-damaging agents. We show a marked effect of O6BG pretreatment on cell sensitivity to cisplatin. We also show the efficacy of this approach on a wide range of human tumor cell lines, which suggests that chemosensitization of tumors by targeted degradation of BRCA2 may be an important consideration when devising cancer therapeutics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alkylating Agents
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • BRCA2 Protein / genetics
  • BRCA2 Protein / metabolism*
  • DNA Repair / physiology*
  • Gene Deletion
  • Guanine / analogs & derivatives
  • Guanine / metabolism
  • Guanine / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Methylnitronitrosoguanidine
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • O(6)-Methylguanine-DNA Methyltransferase / antagonists & inhibitors
  • O(6)-Methylguanine-DNA Methyltransferase / metabolism*

Substances

  • Alkylating Agents
  • BRCA2 Protein
  • BRCA2 protein, mouse
  • O(6)-benzylguanine
  • Methylnitronitrosoguanidine
  • Guanine
  • O-(6)-methylguanine
  • O(6)-Methylguanine-DNA Methyltransferase