Abstract
Radiotherapy (RT) is commonly used to try to eliminate any remaining tumor cells following surgical resection of glioma. However, tumor recurrence is prevalent, highlighting the unmet medical need to develop therapeutic strategies to enhance the efficacy of RT in glioma. Focusing on the radiosensitizing potential of the currently approved drugs known to cross the blood-brain barrier can facilitate rapid clinical translation. Here, we assessed the role of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), a key enzyme to degrade catecholamines and a drug target for Parkinson's disease, in glioma treatment. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas data showed significantly higher COMT expression levels in both low-grade glioma and glioblastoma compared to normal brain tissues. Inhibition of COMT by genetic knockout or FDA-approved COMT inhibitors significantly sensitized glioma cells to RT in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, COMT inhibition in glioma cells led to mitochondria dysfunction and increased mitochondrial RNA release into the cytoplasm, activating the cellular antiviral double-stranded RNA sensing pathway and type I interferon (IFN) response. Elevated type I IFNs stimulated the phagocytic capacity of microglial cells, enhancing RT efficacy. Given the long-established safety record of the COMT inhibitors, these findings provide a solid rationale to evaluate them in combination with RT in patients with glioma. Significance: Inhibition of catechol-O-methyltransferase, a well-established drug target in Parkinson's disease, interferes with mitochondrial electron transport and induces mitochondrial double-stranded RNA leakage, activating type I interferon signaling and sensitizing glioma to radiotherapy.