Targeting NEAT1 Affects the Sensitivity to PARPi in Serous Ovarian Cancer by Regulating the Homologous Recombination Repair Pathway

Objective: Patients initially sensitive to PARPi (PARP Inhibitor) regain resistance because of homologous recombination (HR) restoration, although PARPi has a synthetic lethality effect on serous ovarian Cancer cells with BRCA1/2 mutations. This study aimed to investigate the role of NEAT1 in HR function and whether targeting NEAT1 in serous ovarian Cancer cells could increase PARPi sensitivity. Methods: Ovarian Cancer patients' clinical information and the expression of NEAT1 were collected from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). Ovarian Cancer (OC) cells HeyA8 and SKOV3 were silenced by transfecting NEAT1 ASO. QRT-PCR confirmed the mRNA expression of RAD51, FOXM1, NEAT1_1 and NEAT1_2. We assessed the expression of RAD51, FOXM1, and γ-H2AX by Western blotting and Immunofluorescence. Comet Assays were used to detect DNA double-strand damage levels. In OC cells transfected with NEAT1 ASO or co-transfected overexpression RAD51/empty vector and si-NEAT1/si-ctrl, the sensitivity to Olaparib was determined using CCK8 assay. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves assessed the prognostic and predictive roles of NEAT1 in OC. Results: NEAT1 was an independent prognostic marker of ovarian Cancer. NEAT1 knockdown reduced the expression of NEAT1_1, NEAT1_2, RAD51, and FOXM1 and increased the expression of γ-H2AX. In addition, Olaparib increased the expression of RAD51, representing HR repair efficiency, which was inhibited by NEAT1 knockdown. Moreover, the knockdown of NEAT1 increased the DNA damage caused by Olaparib, demonstrated by increased nuclear γ-H2AX foci, DNA in the tail, and expression of γ-H2AX. NEAT1 knockdown sensitized ovarian Cancer cells to Olaparib by targeting RAD51-HR. NEAT1 expression could predict response to chemotherapy for ovarian Cancer. Conclusions: NEAT1 knockdown inhibited HR capacity and increased DNA damage caused by Olaparib in serous ovarian Cancer cells, making them more sensitive to Olaparib and providing a crucial therapeutic advantage of increasing sensitivity to Olaparib.

DNA damage; Homologous recombination repair; NEAT1; PARP inhibitor; Serous ovarian cancer.