Blocking c-Met-mediated PARP1 phosphorylation enhances anti-tumor effects of PARP inhibitors

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have emerged as promising therapeutics for many diseases, including cancer, in clinical trials(1). One PARP inhibitor, olaparib (Lynparza(™), AstraZeneca), was recently approved by the FDA to treat ovarian cancer with BRCA mutations. BRCA1 and BRCA2 play essential roles in repairing DNA double strand breaks, and a deficiency of BRCA proteins sensitizes cancer cells to PARP inhibition(2,3). Here we show that receptor tyrosine kinase c-Met associates with and phosphorylates PARP1 at Tyr907. Phosphorylation of PARP1 Tyr907 increases PARP1 enzymatic activity and reduces binding to a PARP inhibitor, thereby rendering cancer cells resistant to PARP inhibition. Combining c-Met and PARP1 inhibitors synergized to suppress growth of breast cancer cells in vitro and xenograft tumor models. Similar synergistic effects were observed in a lung cancer xenograft tumor model. These results suggest that PARP1 pTyr907 abundance may predict tumor resistance to PARP inhibitors, and that treatment with a combination of c-Met and PARP inhibitors may benefit patients bearing tumors with high c-Met expression who do not respond to PARP inhibition alone.