Kinome‐Wide Synthetic Lethal Screen Identifies PANK4 as a Modulator of Temozolomide Resistance in Glioblastoma

• Published in: Advanced science 2024-04, Vol.11 (15), p.e2306027-n/a
• Main Authors: Vella, Viviana, Ditsiou, Angeliki, Chalari, Anna, Eravci, Murat, Wooller, Sarah K., Gagliano, Teresa, Bani, Cecilia, Kerschbamer, Emanuela, Karakostas, Christos, Xu, Bin, Zhang, Yongchang, Pearl, Frances M.G., Lopez, Gianluca, Peng, Ling, Stebbing, Justin, Klinakis, Apostolos, Giamas, Georgios
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cancer therapies; Candidates; Cell death; Cell growth; cellular detoxification; Chemotherapy; Drug dosages; Drug resistance; DUF89 domain; GBM; Genes; Glioma; Kinases; kinome‐wide RNAi screen; PANK4; Phosphatase; Proteins; Reproducibility; Standard scores; TMT‐based quantitative proteomics; TMZ resistance
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.202306027

Temozolomide (TMZ) represents the cornerstone of therapy for glioblastoma (GBM). However, acquisition of resistance limits its therapeutic potential. The human kinome is an undisputable source of druggable targets, still, current knowledge remains confined to a limited fraction of it, with a multitude of under‐investigated proteins yet to be characterized. Here, following a kinome‐wide RNAi screen, pantothenate kinase 4 (PANK4) isuncovered as a modulator of TMZ resistance in GBM. Validation of PANK4 across various TMZ‐resistant GBM cell models, patient‐derived GBM cell lines, tissue samples, as well as in vivo studies, corroborates the potential translational significance of these findings. Moreover, PANK4 expression is induced during TMZ treatment, and its expression is associated with a worse clinical outcome. Furthermore, a Tandem Mass Tag (TMT)‐based quantitative proteomic approach, reveals that PANK4 abrogation leads to a significant downregulation of a host of proteins with central roles in cellular detoxification and cellular response to oxidative stress. More specifically, as cells undergo genotoxic stress during TMZ exposure, PANK4 depletion represents a crucial event that can lead to accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and subsequent cell death. Collectively, a previously unreported role for PANK4 in mediating therapeutic resistance to TMZ in GBM is unveiled. Resistance to temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy is a major hurdle for glioblastoma (GBM) treatment. Depletion of pantothenate kinase 4 (PANK4) is found to restore sensitivity to TMZ. By modulating a set of proteins with central roles in cellular detoxification, PANK4 abrogation can exacerbate the damage caused by TMZ, leading to critical accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell death.