Keio University · Medicine
Professor Junko Murai's research lab specializes in molecular mechanisms of DNA repair, with a focus on the roles of PARP enzymes, topoisomerases, and DNA repair factors in maintaining genomic stability. The lab investigates how small-molecule inhibitors—particularly PARP inhibitors—exert their cytotoxic effects in cancer cells, emphasizing the dual mechanisms of catalytic inhibition and PARP-DNA complex trapping. Using genetically engineered chicken DT40 cell models, the lab dissects the contributions of key repair proteins such as Tdp1, USP1-UAF1, and SLFN11 to drug response and resistance, providing insights into synthetic lethality and personalized cancer therapy.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Small-molecule inhibitors of PARP are thought to mediate their antitumor effects as catalytic inhibitors that block repair of DNA single-strand breaks (SSB). However, the mechanism of action of PARP inhibitors with regard to their effects in cancer cells is not fully understood. In this study, we show that PARP inhibitors trap the PARP1 and PARP2 enzymes at damaged DNA. Trapped PARP-DNA complexes were more cytotoxic than unrepaired SSBs caused by PARP inactivation, arguing that PARP inhibitors a
Anti-PARP drugs were initially developed as catalytic inhibitors to block the repair of DNA single-strand breaks. We recently reported that several PARP inhibitors have an additional cytotoxic mechanism by trapping PARP-DNA complexes, and that both olaparib and niraparib act as PARP poisons at pharmacologic concentrations. Therefore, we have proposed that PARP inhibitors should be evaluated based both on catalytic PARP inhibition and PARP-DNA trapping. Here, we evaluated the novel PARP inhibitor
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPIs) kill cancer cells by trapping PARP1 and PARP2. Talazoparib, the most potent PARPI inhibitor (PARPI), exhibits remarkable selectivity among the NCI-60 cancer cell lines beyond BRCA inactivation. Our genomic analyses reveal high correlation between response to talazoparib and Schlafen 11 (SLFN11) expression. Causality was established in four isogenic SLFN11-positive and -negative cell lines and extended to olaparib. Response to the talazoparib-temozo
Tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (Tdp1) repairs topoisomerase I cleavage complexes (Top1cc) by hydrolyzing their 3'-phosphotyrosyl DNA bonds and repairs bleomycin-induced DNA damage by hydrolyzing 3'-phosphoglycolates. Yeast Tdp1 has also been implicated in the repair of topoisomerase II-DNA cleavage complexes (Top2cc). To determine whether vertebrate Tdp1 is involved in the repair of various DNA end-blocking lesions, we generated Tdp1 knock-out cells in chicken DT40 cells (Tdp1-/-) and Tdp1-comp
Clinical topoisomerase I (Top1) and II (Top2) inhibitors trap topoisomerases on DNA, thereby inducing protein-linked DNA breaks. Cancer cells resist the drugs by removing topoisomerase-DNA complexes, and repairing the drug-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) by homologous recombination and nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). Because numerous enzymes and cofactors are involved in the removal of the topoisomerase-DNA complexes and DSB repair, it has been challenging to comprehensively analyze the
Protein ubiquitination plays a key role in the regulation of a variety of DNA repair mechanisms. Protein ubiquitination is controlled by the coordinate activity of ubiquitin ligases and deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs). The deubiquitinating enzyme USP1 regulates DNA repair and the Fanconi anemia pathway through its association with its WD40 binding partner, UAF1, and through its deubiquitination of two critical DNA repair proteins, FANCD2-Ub and PCNA-Ub. To investigate the function of USP1 and UA
The concept of "BRCAness" was first described in 2004 to define the situation in which a homologous recombination repair (HRR) defect in a tumor relates to and phenocopies BRCA1 or BRCA2 loss-of-function mutations. Soon after the discovery of synthetic lethality of PARP1/2 inhibitors in BRCA1- or BRCA2-deficient cells, McCabe and colleagues extended the concept of BRCAness to homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) by studying the sensitivity of cancer cells to PARP inhibitors. They geneticall
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPis) have recently been approved for the treatment of ovarian and breast cancers with BRCA mutations, as well as for maintenance therapies regardless of BRCA mutation for ovarian and primary peritoneal cancers that previously responded to platinum-based chemotherapy. The rationale of these indications is derived from the facts that cancer cells with BRCA mutations are defective in homologous recombination (HR), which confers synthetic lethality with PAR
Schlafen 11 (SLFN11) was recently discovered as a cellular restriction factor against replication stress. Here, we show that SLFN11 increases chromatin accessibility genome wide, prominently at active promoters in response to replication stress induced by the checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) inhibitor prexasertib or the topoisomerase I (TOP1) inhibitor camptothecin. Concomitantly, SLFN11 selectively activates cellular stress response pathways by inducing the transcription of the immediate early genes
The expression of SLFN11 is epigenetically suppressed in normal GCBs and GCB-derived lymphomas. GCB-derived lymphomas with low SLFN11 expression can be treated by the combination of epigenetic modifiers and cytosine arabinoside.
PARP inhibitors (PARPis) were initially developed as DNA repair inhibitors that inhibit the catalytic activity of PARP1 and PARP2 and are expected to induce synthetic lethality in BRCA- or homologous recombination (HR)-deficient tumors. However, the clinical indications for PARPis are not necessarily limited to BRCA mutations or HR deficiency; BRCA wild-type and HR-proficient cancers can also derive some benefit from PARPis. These facts are interpretable by an additional primary antitumor mechan
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