SummaryCells require nucleotides to support DNA replication and to repair damaged DNA. In addition to de novo synthesis, cells recycle nucleotides from the DNA of dying cells or from cellular material ingested through the diet. Salvaged nucleosides come with the complication that they can contain epigenetic modifications. Since epigenetic inheritance of DNA methylation mainly relies on copying of the modification pattern from parental strands1-3, random incorporation of pre-modified bases during replication could have profound implications for epigenome fidelity and yield adverse cellular phenotypes. Although the salvage mechanism of 5-methyl-2′deoxycytidine (5mdC) has been investigated before4-6, currently it remains unknown how cells deal with the recently identified oxidised forms of 5mdC – 5-hydroxymethyl-2′deoxycytidine (5hmdC), 5-formy-2′deoxycytidine (5fdC) and 5-carboxyl-2′deoxycytidine (5cadC)7-10. Here we demonstrate that enzymes of the nucleotide salvage pathway display substrate selectivity, effectively protecting newly synthesized DNA from the incorporation of epigenetically modified forms of cytosine. Thus cell lines and animals can tolerate high doses of these modified cytidines without any deleterious effects on physiology. Interestingly, by screening cancer cell lines for growth defects following exposure to 5hmdC, we unexpectedly identify a subset of cell lines where 5hmdC or 5fdC administration leads to cell lethality. Using genomic approaches we discover that the susceptible cell lines overexpress cytidine deaminase (CDA). CDA converts 5hmdC and 5fdC into variants of uridine that are incorporated into DNA, resulting in accumulation of DNA damage and ultimately, cell death. Our observations extend current knowledge of the nucleotide salvage pathway by revealing the metabolism of oxidised epigenetic bases, and suggest a therapeutic option for cancers, such as pancreatic cancer, that have CDA overexpression and are resistant to treatment with other cytidine analogues11.

Concerted multidisciplinary efforts have led to the development of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase inhibitors (CDKi's) as small molecule drugs and chemical probes of intracellular CDK function. However, conflicting data has been reported on the inhibitory potency of CDKi's and a systematic characterization of affinity and selectivity against intracellular CDKs is lacking. We have developed a panel of cell-permeable energy transfer probes to quantify target occupancy for all 21 human CDKs in live cells, and present a comprehensive evaluation of intracellular isozyme potency and selectivity for a collection of 46 clinically-advanced CDKi's and tool molecules. We observed unexpected intracellular activity profiles for a number of CDKi's, offering avenues for repurposing of highly potent molecules as probes for previously unreported targets. Overall, we provide a broadly applicable method for evaluating the selectivity of CDK inhibitors in living cells, and present a refined set of tool molecules to study CDK function.

Resistance to antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) has been observed in both preclinical models and clinical studies. However, mechanisms of resistance to pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD)conjugated ADCs have not been well characterized and thus, this study was designed to investigate development of resistance to PBD dimer warheads and PBD-conjugated ADCs. We established a PBD-resistant cell line, 361-PBDr, by treating human breast cancer MDA-MB-361 cells with gradually increasing concentrations of SG3199, the PBD dimer released from the PBD drug-linker tesirine. 361-PBDr cells were over 20-fold less sensitive to SG3199 compared with parental cells and were cross-resistant to other PBD warhead and ADCs conjugated with PBDs. Proteomic profiling revealed that downregulation of Schlafen family member 11 (SLFN11), a putative DNA/RNA helicase, sensitizing cancer cells to DNA-damaging agents, was associated with PBD resistance. Confirmatory studies demonstrated that siRNA knockdown of SLFN11 in multiple tumor cell lines conferred reduced sensitivity to SG3199 and PBDconjugated ADCs. Treatment with EPZ011989, an EZH2 inhibitor, derepressed SLFN11 expression in 361-PBDr and other SLFN11deficient tumor cells, and increased sensitivity to PBD and PBDconjugated ADCs, indicating that the suppression of SLFN11 expression is associated with histone methylation as reported. Moreover, we demonstrated that combining an ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related protein (ATR) inhibitor, AZD6738, with SG3199 or PBD-based ADCs led to synergistic cytotoxicity in either resistant 361-PBDr cells or cells that SLFN11 was knocked down via siRNA. Collectively, these data provide insights into potential development of resistance to PBDs and PBD-conjugated ADCs, and more importantly, inform strategy development to overcome such resistance.