PP2A inhibition instructs spliceosome phosphorylation to create splicing vulnerability in colon adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a versatile enzyme affecting many aspects of cellular physiology. However, it remains unclear which of the cellular processes are most perturbed upon PP2A inhibition and how these perturbations could be exploited therapeutically. We report an unanticipated sensitivity of the splicing machinery to phosphorylation changes in response to PP2A inhibition by LB-100 in colorectal adenocarcinoma. We observe enrichment for differentially phosphorylated sites within cancer-critical splicing nodes of U2 snRNP, SRSF and hnRNP proteins. Altered phosphorylation endows LB-100-treated colorectal adenocarcinoma cells with differential splicing patterns. In PP2A-inhibited cells, over 1000 events of exon skipping and intron retention affect regulators of genomic integrity. Finally, LB-100-evoked alternative splicing is predicted to be a source of neoantigens that can improve cancer treatment responses to immune modulators. Our findings provide a potential explanation for the pre-clinical and clinical observations that PP2A inhibition sensitizes cancer cells to immune checkpoint blockade and genotoxic agents.