The DNA-PK Inhibitor VX-984 Enhances the Radiosensitivity of Glioblastoma Cells Grown In Vitro and as Orthotopic Xenografts

Radiotherapy is a primary treatment modality for glioblastomas (GBM). Because DNA-PKcs is a critical factor in the repair of radiation-induced double strand breaks (DSB), this study evaluated the potential of VX-984, a new DNA-PKcs inhibitor, to enhance the radiosensitivity of GBM cells. Treatment of the establishedGBMcell line U251 and theGBMstem-like cell (GSC) line NSC11 with VX-984 under in vitro conditions resulted in a concentration-dependent inhibition of radiation-induced DNAPKcs phosphorylation. In a similar concentration-dependent manner, VX-984 treatment enhanced the radiosensitivity of each GBMcell line as defined by clonogenic analysis. As determined by gH2AX expression and neutral comet analyses, VX-984 inhibited the repair of radiation-inducedDNAdouble-strand break in U251 and NSC11 GBM cells, suggesting that the VX-984-induced radio-sensitization is mediated by an inhibition of DNA repair. Extending these results to an in vivo model, treatment of mice with VX984 inhibited radiation-induced DNA-PKcs phosphorylation in orthotopic brain tumor xenografts, indicating that this compound crosses the blood-brain tumor barrier at sufficient concentrations. For mice bearing U251 or NSC11 brain tumors, VX-984 treatment alone had no significant effect on overall survival; radiation alone increased survival. The survival of mice receiving the combination protocol was significantly increased as compared with control and as compared with radiation alone. These results indicate that VX-984 enhances the radiosensitivity of brain tumor xenografts and suggest that it may be of benefit in the therapeutic management of GBM. (C) 2018 AACR.