Open Access

ARTICLE

New insights into ATR inhibition in muscle invasive bladder cancer: The role of apolipoprotein B mRNA editing catalytic subunit 3B

HYUNHO KIM¹, UIJU CHO², SOOK HEE HONG³, HYUNG SOON PARK¹, IN-HO KIM³, HO JUNG AN¹, BYOUNG YONG SHIM¹, JIN HYOUNG KANG^3,*

1 Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Suwon, Korea
2 Department of Pathology, St. Vincent’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Suwon, Korea
3 Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

* Corresponding Author: JIN HYOUNG KANG. Email:

Oncology Research 2024, 32(6), 1021-1030. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2024.048919

Received 21 December 2023; Accepted 22 March 2024; Issue published 23 May 2024

Abstract

Background: Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing catalytic polypeptide (APOBEC), an endogenous mutator, induces DNA damage and activates the ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR)-checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) pathway. Although cisplatin-based therapy is the mainstay for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), it has a poor survival rate. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of an ATR inhibitor combined with cisplatin in the treatment of APOBEC catalytic subunit 3B (APOBEC3B) expressing MIBC. Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was performed to analyze an association between APOBEC3B and ATR in patients with MIBC. The APOBEC3B expression in MIBC cell lines was assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Western blot analysis was performed to confirm differences in phosphorylated Chk1 (pChk1) expression according to the APOBEC3B expression. Cell viability and apoptosis analyses were performed to examine the anti-tumor activity of ATR inhibitors combined with cisplatin. Results: There was a significant association between APOBEC3B and ATR expression in the tumor tissues obtained from patients with MIBC. Cells with higher APOBEC3B expression showed higher pChk1 expression than cells expressing low APOBEC3B levels. Combination treatment of ATR inhibitor and cisplatin inhibited cell growth in MIBC cells with a higher APOBEC3B expression. Compared to cisplatin single treatment, combination treatment induced more apoptotic cell death in the cells with higher APOBEC3B expression. Conclusion: Our study shows that APOBEC3B’s higher expression status can enhance the sensitivity of MIBC to cisplatin upon ATR inhibition. This result provides new insight into appropriate patient selection for the effective application of ATR inhibitors in MIBC.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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