Elucidating the Molecular Mechanism of TRIP13-mediated Radiation Resistance in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

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Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common and aggressive cancer. In recent years, despite significant effort to understand the pathobiology of the disease, there has been only marginal improvement in patient prognosis. Radiation is one of the chief treatment modalities for OSCC, but radiation resistance has led to a high incidence of locoregional failure and tumor recurrence. Radiation is incredibly cytotoxic and has the potential to completely annihilate tumors via induction of lethal double strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA. To adequately exploit the benefits of radiation and improve patient outcomes, a thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms of radiation resistance is essential. Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is the main repair pathway for radiation- induced DSBs. The high incidence of locoregional failure and tumor recurrence after radiation is likely a reflection of efficient repair. Therefore, a keen understanding of how NHEJ occurs is vital to developing novel strategies to increase radiation sensitivity. Our laboratory identified thyroid hormone receptor interacting protein 13 (TRIP13) as an oncogenic ATPase that promotes NHEJ and radiation resistance in OSCC. The goal of this study is to delineate the molecular mechanism of TRIP13-mediated NHEJ that enhances radiation resistance. Pilot data show that phosphorylation of TRIP13 is essential for radioresistance. Moreover, loss of the ATPase activity of TRIP13 sensitizes OSCC to radiation; ATPases are frequently involved in assembly of biological complexes. Therefore, the central hypothesis of the proposed study is that phosphorylation-induced ATPase activity of TRIP13 is necessary for DNA-PK complex formation in NHEJ, thereby promoting radiation resistance in OSCC. To test this hypothesis, we propose the following specific aims: 1) to explore the extent to which phosphorylation of TRIP13 promotes NHEJ via induction of its ATPase activity; 2) to investigate the extent to which the ATPase activity of TRIP13 promotes radiation resistance and 3) to validate pTRIP13 as a predictive marker of radiation resistance. To address these aims, we will engineer genetically modified cell lines to dissect the mechanism of radiation resistance in vitro and in in vivo. These aims will elucidate the molecular mechanism behind TRIP13- mediated radiation resistance and will investigate phospho-TRIP13 as a novel predictive marker of radiation resistance.