Aurora kinase A inhibition induces synthetic lethality in SMAD4-deficient colorectal cancer cells via spindle assembly checkpoint activation

SMAD4 loss-of-function mutations have been frequently observed in colorectal cancer (CRC) and are recognized as a drug target for therapeutic exploitation. In this study, we performed a synthetic lethal drug screening with SMAD4-isogenic CRC cells and found that aurora kinase A (AURKA) inhibition is synthetic lethal with SMAD4 loss. Inhibition of AURKA selectively inhibited the growth of SMAD4−/− CRC in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, SMAD4 negatively regulated AURKA level, resulting in the significant elevation of AURKA in SMAD4−/− CRC cells. Inhibition of AURKA induced G2/M cell cycle delay in SMAD4+/+ CRC cells, but induced apoptosis in SMAD4−/− CRC cells. We further observed that a high level of AURKA in SMAD4−/− CRC cells led to abnormal mitotic spindles, leading to cellular aneuploidy. Moreover, SMAD4−/− CRC cells expressed high levels of spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) proteins, suggesting the hyperactivation of SAC. The silencing of key SAC proteins significantly rescued the AURKA inhibition-induced cell death in SMAD4−/− cells, suggesting that SMAD4−/− CRC cells are hyper-dependent on AURKA activity for mitotic exit and survival during SAC hyperactivation. This study presents a unique synthetic lethal interaction between SMAD4 and AURKA and suggests that AURKA could be a potential drug target in SMAD4-deficient CRC.