Deficiency in the Repair of DNA Damage by Homologous Recombination and Sensitivity to Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase Inhibition

Deficiency in either of the breast cancer susceptibility proteins BRCA1 or BRCA2 induces profound cellular sensitivity to the inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) activity. We hypothesized that the critical role of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the repair of double-strand breaks by homologous recombination (HR) was the underlying reason for this sensitivity. Here, we examine the effects of deficiency of several proteins involved in HR on sensitivity to PARP inhibition. We show that deficiency of RAD51, RAD54, DSS1, RPA1, NBS1, ATR, ATM, CHK1, CHK2, FANCD2, FANCA, or FANCC induces such sensitivity. This suggests that BRCA-deficient cells are, at least in part, sensitive to PARP inhibition because of HR…