Navitoclax acts synergistically with irradiation to induce apoptosis in preclinical models of H3K27M-altered diffuse midline glioma
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) with histone H3K27M mutations represent a devastating paediatric brain cancer characterised by abysmal prognosis and limited treatment options. The only approved treatment is radiotherapy (RT), but most of the tumours relapse with fatal consequences. The effects of RT remain unknown because patients are not biopsied during treatment. Here, we sought to investigate whether irradiation leads to senescence induction in DMG and explore the efficacy of senolytics. We show that ionising radiation induces senescence in various H3K27M-altered DMG cell lines. Senescence induction is demonstrated by immunocytochemistry, RNA-sequencing and analysis of SASP factors by ELISA. Through testing several senolytic compounds, we identify that Bcl2 family inhibitors (e.g., Navitoclax) act as potent senolytics, driving senescent DMG cells into apoptosis,
primarily via Bcl-xL inhibition. Reinforcing these findings, proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) targeting Bcl-xL and galacto-conjugated Navitoclax (Nav-Gal) also exhibit strong senolytic activity against senescent DMG cancer cells. Finally, we show that a combination of irradiation with Navitoclax enhances cancer cell apoptosis in an orthotopic xenograft DMG model. Together, the data demonstrate that ionising irradiation leads to senescence induction in H3K27M-altered human DMG cell lines, making them particularly sensitive to apoptosis through Bcl-xL inhibition.
primarily via Bcl-xL inhibition. Reinforcing these findings, proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) targeting Bcl-xL and galacto-conjugated Navitoclax (Nav-Gal) also exhibit strong senolytic activity against senescent DMG cancer cells. Finally, we show that a combination of irradiation with Navitoclax enhances cancer cell apoptosis in an orthotopic xenograft DMG model. Together, the data demonstrate that ionising irradiation leads to senescence induction in H3K27M-altered human DMG cell lines, making them particularly sensitive to apoptosis through Bcl-xL inhibition.
Date Issued
2025-12-29
Date Acceptance
2025-12-11
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2025, 15
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
15
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Publication Status
Published
Article Number
45094
Date Publish Online
2025-12-22