ONC201 in combination with ATR inhibitor ceralasertib exhibits potent synergy in ovarian cancer cells

Abstract

Ovarian cancer stands out as one of the most lethal gynecological cancers among women in the United States. While patients with ovarian cancer often show positive responses to treatment, it is common for the cancer to reappear and develop resistance to treatment, so it is important to explore and create novel combinations to increase patient survival rates. ATRi (Ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related inhibitors) and ONC201 monotherapies have shown efficacy in ovarian cancer in preclinical models. We hypothesized that combining ATRi with ONC201 would enhance this efficacy. ONC201 induces apoptosis through the TRAIL-pathway following activation of the integrated stress response and inactivation of Akt which is upregulated in ovarian cancer. Six human ovarian cancer cell lines were treated alone and with the novel drug combination of ceralasertib (ATRi) and ONC201. We found an IC50 range of 0.88-20.16 microM for ONC201 and IC50 range of 0.55-54.75 microM for ceralasertib. The combination of ONC201 plus ceralasertib resulted in PARP cleavage consistent with apoptosis along with reduction in Bcl-XL, Xiap and p-Akt expression after 72 hours of treatment. Cytokine profiling showed a decrease in markers of inflammation and tumor progression. Our data provide evidence of synergy from the combination of ATRi ceralasertib and ONC201 against Ovarian cancer cells that merits further investigation including clinical translation.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{ghandali2026onc201,
  title = {{ONC201 in combination with ATR inhibitor ceralasertib exhibits potent synergy in ovarian cancer cells}},
  author = {M. Ghandali and K. M. Selvi and K. Huntington and A. George and A. Ochsner and B. Carneiro and D. S. Dizon and L. Zhang and W. S. El-Deiry},
  howpublished = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.09.23.753805},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753805v1},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - ONC201 in combination with ATR inhibitor ceralasertib exhibits potent synergy in ovarian cancer cells
AU  - M. Ghandali
AU  - K. M. Selvi
AU  - K. Huntington
AU  - A. George
AU  - A. Ochsner
AU  - B. Carneiro
AU  - D. S. Dizon
AU  - L. Zhang
AU  - W. S. El-Deiry
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/23
PB  - bioRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.09.23.753805
UR  - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.23.753805v1
AB  - Ovarian cancer stands out as one of the most lethal gynecological cancers among women in the United States. While patients with ovarian cancer often show positive responses to treatment, it is common for the cancer to reappear and develop resistance to treatment, so it is important to explore and create novel combinations to increase patient survival rates. ATRi (Ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related inhibitors) and ONC201 monotherapies have shown efficacy in ovarian cancer in preclinical models. We hypothesized that combining ATRi with ONC201 would enhance this efficacy. ONC201 induces apoptosis through the TRAIL-pathway following activation of the integrated stress response and inactivation of Akt which is upregulated in ovarian cancer. Six human ovarian cancer cell lines were treated alone and with the novel drug combination of ceralasertib (ATRi) and ONC201. We found an IC50 range of 0.88-20.16 microM for ONC201 and IC50 range of 0.55-54.75 microM for ceralasertib. The combination of ONC201 plus ceralasertib resulted in PARP cleavage consistent with apoptosis along with reduction in Bcl-XL, Xiap and p-Akt expression after 72 hours of treatment. Cytokine profiling showed a decrease in markers of inflammation and tumor progression. Our data provide evidence of synergy from the combination of ATRi ceralasertib and ONC201 against Ovarian cancer cells that merits further investigation including clinical translation.
ER  -

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