Replication origin firing capacity indicates ATR inhibitor sensitivity

Abstract

Abstract Inhibitors of ATR, a central kinase controlling DNA replication origin firing and cellular checkpoints, are undergoing clinical trials, yet mechanisms underpinning sensitivity to ATR inhibitors (ATRi) and patient stratification biomarkers are lacking. Here, we perform in parallel, proteomics, transcriptomics and functional analyses and demonstrate that sensitive cancer cell lines have higher expression of DNA replication initiation factors, and exhibit higher origin firing, increased pan-nuclear γH2AX signals and cell death upon ATRi treatment. ATRi sensitivity is causally associated with origin firing rates, since we could modulate ATRi sensitivity by either up- or down-regulating origin firing capacity using CDC7 inhibition, CDK2 inhibition or CDC45 overexpression in both breast and colorectal cancer cells. High expression of replication initiation factors predicts ATRi sensitivity across cell lines from multiple cancer types and acute myeloid leukemia patient samples. This study reveals a contribution of lethal origin firing capacity to ATR sensitivity, providing key steps towards developing a multimodal clinically applicable biomarker.