Aim: The mechanism of RASSF1A in DNA damage repair remains to be further clarified for applying to synthetic lethal strategy. Materials & methods: Eight esophageal cancer cell lines, 181 cases of esophageal dysplasia and 1066 cases of primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) were employed. Methylation-specific PCR, the CRISPR/Cas9 technique, immunoprecipitation assay and a xenograft mouse model were used. Results: RASSF1A was methylated in 2.21% of esophageal dysplasia and 11.73% of ESCC. RASSF1A was also involved in DNA damage repair through activating Hippo signaling. Loss of RASSF1A expression sensitized esophageal cancer cell lines to ataxia telangiectasia mutated and rad3-related (ATR) inhibitor (VE-822) both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: RASSF1A methylation is a synthetic lethal marker for ATR inhibitors.
Keywords: ATM signaling; DNA methylation; RASSF1A; VE-822; synthetic lethality.