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  2. Mitochondrial superoxide contributes to oxidative stress exacerbated by DNA damage response in RAD51-depleted ovarian cancer cells

Mitochondrial superoxide contributes to oxidative stress exacerbated by DNA damage response in RAD51-depleted ovarian cancer cells

  • Redox Biol. 2020 Sep;36:101604. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2020.101604.
Limei Xu 1 Tingting Wu 1 Shihua Lu 1 Xiaohe Hao 1 Junchao Qin 2 Jing Wang 1 Xiyu Zhang 1 Qiao Liu 1 Beihua Kong 3 Yaoqin Gong 1 Zhaojian Liu 2 Changshun Shao 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Key Laboratory of Experimental Teratology, Ministry of Education/Department of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Shandong University School of Basic Medical Science, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
  • 2 Department of Cell Biology, Shandong University School of Basic Medical Science, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
  • 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Institutes for Translational Medicine, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China. Electronic address: shaoc@suda.edu.cn.
Abstract

Ovarian Cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy. Abnormal homologous recombination repair, high level of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and upregulation of antioxidant genes are characteristic features of ovarian Cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms governing the redox homeostasis in ovarian Cancer cells remain to be fully elucidated. We here demonstrated a critical role of RAD51, a protein essential for homologous recombination, in the maintenance of redox homeostasis. We found that RAD51 is overexpressed in high grade serous ovarian Cancer and is associated with poor prognosis. Depletion or inhibition of RAD51 results in G2/M arrest, increased production of Reactive Oxygen Species and accumulation of oxidative DNA damage. Importantly, antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) significantly attenuated the induction of DNA damage and the perturbation of proliferation caused by RAD51 depletion. We further demonstrated that RAD51 inhibition or depletion led to elevated production of mitochondrial superoxide and increased accumulation of mitochondria. Moreover, Chk1 activation is required for the G2/M arrest and the generation of mitochondrial stress in response to RAD51 depletion. Together, our results indicate that nuclear DNA damage caused by RAD51 depletion may trigger mitochondria-originated redox dysregulation. Our findings suggest that a vicious cycle of nuclear DNA damage, mitochondrial accumulation and oxidative stress may contribute to the tumor-suppressive effects of RAD51 depletion or inhibition.

Keywords

CHK1; G2/M arrest; Mitochondria stress; Ovarian cancer; RAD51; Redox homeostasis.

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