Relationship between thyroid tumor radiosensitivity and nuclear localization of DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit.

Abstract

Thyroid tumors are the most common types of endocrine malignancies and are commonly treated with radioactive iodine (RAI) to destroy remaining cancer cells following surgical intervention. We previously reported that the expression levels of double-stranded DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), which plays a key role in non-homologous end joining, are correlated with the radiosensitivity of cancer cells. Specifically, cells expressing high levels of DNA-PKcs exhibited radiation resistance, whereas cells expressing low levels were sensitive to radiation treatment. In this study, we observed full-length native DNA-PKcs (460 kDa) in radiation-resistant FRO and KTC-2 cells through western blot analysis using an antibody against the C-terminus of DNA-PKcs. In contrast, cleaved DNA-PKcs (175 kDa) were observed in radiation-sensitive TPC-1 and KTC-1 cells. Almost equal amounts of DNA-PKcs were observed in moderately radiation-sensitive WRO cells. We also describe a simple method for the prediction of radiation therapy efficacy in individual cases of thyroid cancers based on staining for DNA-PKcs in human cancer cell lines. Immunofluorescent staining showed that native DNA-PKcs was localized largely in the cytoplasm and only rarely localized in the nuclei of radiation-resistant thyroid cancer cells, whereas in radiation-sensitive cancer cells a 175-kDa cleaved C-terminal fragment of DNA-PKcs was localized mainly inside the nuclei. Therefore, DNA-PKcs moved to the nucleus after γ-ray irradiation. Our results suggest a new method for classifying human thyroid tumors based on their cellular distribution patterns of DNA-PKcs in combination with their radiosensitivity.

• Authors: Makoto Ihara, Kazuko Shichijo, Kiyoto Ashizawa, Katsuya Matsuda, Ryota Otsubo, Ichiro Horie, Masahiro Nakashima, Takashi Kudo
• Journal: Journal of radiation research (J Radiat Res) Vol. 61 Issue 4 Pg. 511-516 (Jul 06 2020) ISSN: 1349-9157 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 32567663 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japanese Radiation Research Society and Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology.

Chemical References

• Iodine Radioisotopes
• DNA-Activated Protein Kinase
• PRKDC protein, human

Topics

• Catalytic Domain
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Cell Nucleus (metabolism)
• Cytoplasm (metabolism)
• DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded
• DNA End-Joining Repair
• DNA Repair
• DNA-Activated Protein Kinase (metabolism)
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Iodine Radioisotopes
• Microscopy, Fluorescence
• Protein Domains
• Radiation Tolerance
• Thyroid Neoplasms (metabolism, radiotherapy)