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Identifying new molecular targets for novel anticancer treatments is a major challenge in clinical cancer research. We have shown that cytidine deaminase (CDA) expression is downregulated in about 60% of cancer cells and tissues. In this study, we aimed to develop a new anticancer treatment specifically inhibiting the growth of CDA-deficient tumor cells. High-throughput screening of a chemical library led to the identification of a naphthol derivative, X55, targeting CDA-deficient tumor cells preferentially, without affecting the growth of non-tumoral cells regardless of CDA expression status. Metabolomic profiling revealed that CDA-deficient HeLa cells differed markedly from control HeLa cells. X55 treatment had a moderate effect on control cells, but greatly disturbed the metabolome of CDA-deficient HeLa cells, worsening the deregulation of many metabolites. In particular, the levels of the three oncometabolites, fumarate, succinate and 2-hydroxyglutarate, were significantly lower in CDA-depleted cells, and this decrease in levels was exacerbated by X55 treatment, revealing an unexpected link between CDA deficiency, mitochondrial function and X55 response. Finally, we identified strong downregulation of MAPT (encoding Tau, a microtubule associated protein) expression as a reliable predictive marker for tumor cell X55 sensitivity.

Abstract Cytidine deaminase (CDA) deficiency causes pyrimidine pool disequilibrium. We previously reported that the excess cellular dC and dCTP resulting from CDA deficiency jeopardizes genome stability, decreasing basal poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) activity and increasing ultrafine anaphase bridge (UFB) formation. Here, we investigated the mechanism underlying the decrease in PARP-1 activity in CDA-deficient cells. PARP-1 activity is dependent on intracellular NAD + concentration. We therefore hypothesized that defects of the NAD + salvage pathway might result in decreases in PARP-1 activity. We found that the inhibition or depletion of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), the rate-limiting enzyme in the NAD + salvage biosynthesis pathway, mimicked CDA deficiency, resulting in a decrease in basal PARP-1 activity, regardless of NAD + levels. Furthermore, the expression of exogenous wild-type NAMPT fully restored basal PARP-1 activity and prevented the increase in UFB frequency in CDA-deficient cells. No such effect was observed with the catalytic mutant. Our findings demonstrate that (1) the inhibition of NAMPT activity in CDA-proficient cells lowers basal PARP-1 activity, and (2) the expression of exogenous wild-type NAMPT, but not of the catalytic mutant, fully restores basal PARP-1 activity in CDA-deficient cells; these results strongly suggest that basal PARP-1 activity in CDA-deficient cells decreases due to a reduction of NAMPT activity.

Cytidine deaminase (CDA) deficiency causes pyrimidine pool disequilibrium. We previously reported that the excess cellular dC and dCTP resulting from CDA deficiency jeopardizes genome stability, decreasing basal poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) activity and increasing ultrafine anaphase bridge (UFB) formation. Here, we investigated the mechanism underlying the decrease in PARP-1 activity in CDA-deficient cells. PARP-1 activity is dependent on intracellular NAD+ concentration. We therefore hypothesized that defects of the NAD+ salvage pathway might result in decreases in PARP-1 activity. We found that the inhibition or depletion of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), the rate-limiting enzyme in the NAD+ salvage biosynthesis pathway, mimicked CDA deficiency, resulting in a decrease in basal PARP-1 activity, regardless of NAD+ levels. Furthermore, the expression of exogenous wild-type NAMPT fully restored basal PARP-1 activity and prevented the increase in UFB frequency in CDA-deficient cells. No such effect was observed with the catalytic mutant. Our findings demonstrate that (1) the inhibition of NAMPT activity in CDA-proficient cells lowers basal PARP-1 activity, and (2) the expression of exogenous wild-type NAMPT, but not of the catalytic mutant, fully restores basal PARP-1 activity in CDA-deficient cells; these results strongly suggest that basal PARP-1 activity in CDA-deficient cells decreases due to a reduction of NAMPT activity.