Antagonizing Glutamine Bioavailability Promotes Radiation Sensitivity in Prostate Cancer

Simple Summary Radiation is the standard of care for prostate cancer, but almost half the patients develop resistant disease. It is imperative to understand the reasons behind disease progression to develop more effective strategies of treatment. We determined that glutamine is a crucial nutrient in driving prostate cancer tumors as people with more glutamine have poorer outcomes. We hypothesized that directly depriving cancer cells of this precious resource will further sensitize them to radiation. We sought to repurpose the drug L-asparaginase, which has been used extensively to treat leukemia patients, to complement radiation therapy for prostate cancer patients. This drug depletes glutamine in the blood and hinders an aspect of cell growth that makes cancer cells that are otherwise resistant vulnerable to irradiation. Ultimately, mouse models of prostate cancer given L-asparaginase in combination with irradiation were more effective at reducing tumor size than radiation alone. Nearly half of localized prostate cancer (PCa) patients given radiation therapy develop recurrence. Here, we identified glutamine as a key player in mediating the radio-sensitivity of PCa. Glutamine transporters and glutaminase are upregulated by radiation therapy of PCa cells, but respective inhibitors were ineffective in radio-sensitization. However, targeting glutamine bioavailability by L-asparaginase (L-ASP) led to a significant reduction in clonogenicity when combined with irradiation. L-ASP reduced extracellular asparagine and glutamine, but the sensitization effects were driven through its depletion of glutamine. L-ASP led to G2/M cell cycle checkpoint blockade. As evidence, there was a respective delay in DNA repair associated with RAD51 downregulation and upregulation of CHOP, contributing to radiation-induced cell death. A radio-resistant PCa cell line was developed, was found to bypass radiation-induced mitotic catastrophe, and was sensitive to L-ASP/radiation combination treatment. Previously, PCa-associated fibroblasts were reported as a glutamine source supporting tumor progression. As such, glutamine-free media were not effective in promoting radiation-induced PCa cell death when co-cultured with associated primary fibroblasts. However, the administration L-ASP catalyzed glutamine depletion with irradiated co-cultures and catalyzed tumor volume reduction in a mouse model. The clinical history of L-ASP for leukemia patients supports the viability for its repurposing as a radio-sensitizer for PCa patients.

Automated summary

The study found that glutamine is a crucial nutrient in driving prostate cancer growth, and understanding its role in radiation sensitivity is important. By using the drug L-asparaginase, which reduces glutamine levels, it was found that cancer cells became more sensitive to radiation therapy.