Abstract 571: CRISPR/Cas9 screening identifies the proteasome subunit PSMC6 as key for the survival of cisplatin-resistant ovarian carcinoma cells

Abstract Ovarian carcinoma is a disease with poor prognosis, due to delays in diagnosis and the development of drug resistance. Since deregulation of the ubiquitin proteasome system may contribute to the development of drug resistance, the aim of this study was to investigate the interplay between expression of proteasome subunits and cisplatin resistance by utilizing a CRISPR/Cas9 dropout screen. Paired cisplatin-sensitive and -resistant cells (IGROV-1 and IGROV-1/Pt1) were transfected with Cas9 and transduced with gRNAs against proteasome components. Cells were collected at early (day 4) and late (day 21) time exposure and sequenced to identify genes necessary for survival. Various proteasome subunits were found to be essential for the survival of cisplatin-resistant ovarian carcinoma cells, including PSMA5, PSMC6, PSMD7, PSMD12 and PSMD14. Since PSMC6 knockout produced the greatest growth inhibitory effects, it was selected for functional studies utilizing conventional RNA interference. When IGROV-1 and IGROV-1/Pt1 cells were transfected with small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting PSMC6, efficient down-regulation on the mRNA and protein level was observed. Phenotypic analyses of PSMC6 knockdown cells indicated reduced clonogenicity using both 2D and soft agar assays in parental and resistant cells associated with down-regulation of the canonical MAPK pathway. A slight but not significant increase in sensitivity to cisplatin was observed upon PSMC6 silencing in resistant cells using clonogenic assays. Finally, we carried out a pilot study using ovarian carcinoma specimens (n = 134) obtained through the institutional biobank. The samples were representative of the frequency occurrence of the various histological ovarian carcinoma subtypes. We found that PSMC6 expression, evaluated by qRT-PCR, was associated with tumor stage. These findings suggest that PSMC6 is linked to ovarian carcinoma aggressiveness and that PSMC6 targeting may be an interesting therapeutic strategy. Citation Format: Matteo Costantino, Padraig D'arcy, Luca Mirra, Cristina Corno, Giovanni L. Beretta, Johannes Gubat, Pietro Pratesi, Chiara M. Ciniselli, Paolo Verderio, Stig Linder, Paola Perego. CRISPR/Cas9 screening identifies the proteasome subunit PSMC6 as key for the survival of cisplatin-resistant ovarian carcinoma cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 571.