A high-throughput chemical screen with FDA approved drugs reveals that the antihypertensive drug Spironolactone impairs cancer cell survival by inhibiting homology directed repair

Or David Shahar, Alkmini Kalousi, Lital Eini, Benoit Fisher, Amelie Weiss, Jonatan Darr, Olga Mazina, Shay Bramson, Martin Kupiec, Amir Eden, Eran Meshorer, Alexander V. Mazin, Laurent Brino, Michal Goldberg*, Evi Soutoglou

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the most severe type of DNA damage. DSBs are repaired by non-homologous end-joining or homology directed repair (HDR). Identifying novel small molecules that affect HDR is of great importance both for research use and therapy. Molecules that elevate HDR may improve gene targeting whereas inhibiting molecules can be used for chemotherapy, since some of the cancers are more sensitive to repair impairment. Here, we performed a high-throughput chemical screen for FDA approved drugs, which affect HDR in cancer cells. We found that HDR frequencies are increased by retinoic acid and Idoxuridine and reduced by the antihypertensive drug Spironolactone. We further revealed that Spironolactone impairs Rad51 foci formation, sensitizes cancer cells to DNA damaging agents, to Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and cross-linking agents and inhibits tumor growth in xenografts, in mice. This study suggests Spironolactone as a new candidate for chemotherapy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5689-5701
Number of pages13
JournalNucleic Acids Research
Volume42
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2014

Funding

FundersFunder number
US-Israel Bi-National Fund
National Institutes of HealthMH097512, DA033981
National Cancer InstituteR01CA100839
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation2011262

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