2-Hydroxyglutarate produced by neomorphic IDH mutations suppresses homologous recombination and induces PARP inhibitor sensitivity
Menée sur des cellules de gliomes issus de patients et à l'aide de xénogreffes sur un modèle murin, cette étude met en évidence un mécanisme par lequel la production de 2-hydroxyglutarate, induite par des mutations néomorphiques de l'isocitrate déshydrogénase, supprime des recombinaisons homologues et sensibilise les cellules tumorales aux inhibiteurs de PARP
Mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2, which result in overproduction of 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), are observed in multiple tumor types, including gliomas and acute myelogenous leukemia. An additional form of 2HG is produced under hypoxia, which is also frequent in tumors. 2HG is considered to be an oncometabolite, or a metabolite that promotes carcinogenesis, and inhibitors of mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase are in development to target this process. However, Sulkowski et al. found that it may be possible to take advantage of 2HG overproduction instead. The authors discovered that 2HG overproduction impairs homologous recombination used in DNA repair and sensitizes cancer cells to treatment with PARP inhibitors, another class of cancer drugs that are already in clinical use.2-Hydroxyglutarate (2HG) exists as two enantiomers, (R)-2HG and (S)-2HG, and both are implicated in tumor progression via their inhibitory effects on α-ketoglutarate (αKG)–dependent dioxygenases. The former is an oncometabolite that is induced by the neomorphic activity conferred by isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and IDH2 mutations, whereas the latter is produced under pathologic processes such as hypoxia. We report that IDH1/2 mutations induce a homologous recombination (HR) defect that renders tumor cells exquisitely sensitive to poly(adenosine 5′-diphosphate–ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. This “BRCAness” phenotype of IDH mutant cells can be completely reversed by treatment with small-molecule inhibitors of the mutant IDH1 enzyme, and conversely, it can be entirely recapitulated by treatment with either of the 2HG enantiomers in cells with intact IDH1/2 proteins. We demonstrate mutant IDH1–dependent PARP inhibitor sensitivity in a range of clinically relevant models, including primary patient-derived glioma cells in culture and genetically matched tumor xenografts in vivo. These findings provide the basis for a possible therapeutic strategy exploiting the biological consequences of mutant IDH, rather than attempting to block 2HG production, by targeting the 2HG-dependent HR deficiency with PARP inhibition. Furthermore, our results uncover an unexpected link between oncometabolites, altered DNA repair, and genetic instability.