APO866 is a small molecule drug that specifically inhibits nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), a key enzyme involved in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biosynthesis from the natural precursor nicotinamide. Although, the antitumor activity of APO866 on various types of cancer models has been reported, information regarding mechanisms by which APO866 exerts its cytotoxic effects is not well defined. Here we show that APO866 induces a strong, time-dependent increase in highly reactive ROS, nitric oxide, cytosolic/mitochondrial superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide. We provide evidence that APO866-mediated ROS production is modulated by PARP1 and triggers cell death through mitochondria depolarization and ATP loss. Genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of PARP1 prevented hydrogen peroxide accumulation, caspase activation, mitochondria depolarization, ATP loss and abrogates APO866-induced cell death, suggesting that the integrity of PARP1 status is required for cell death. Conversely, PARP1 activating drugs enhanced the anti-leukemia activity of APO866 Collectively, our studies show that APO866 induces ROS/RNS productions, which mediate its anti-leukemia effect. These results support testing new combinatorial strategies to enhance the antitumor activities of APO866.

Most cancer cells have high need for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to sustain their survival. This led to the development of inhibitors of nicotinamide (NAM) phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), the rate-limiting NAD+ biosynthesis enzyme from NAM. Such inhibitors kill cancer cells in preclinical studies but failed in clinical ones. To identify parameters that could negatively affect the therapeutic efficacy of NAMPT inhibitors and propose therapeutic strategies to circumvent such failure, we performed metabolomics analyses in tumor environment and explored the effect of the interaction between microbiota and cancer cells. Here we show that tumor environment enriched in vitamin B3 (NAM) or nicotinic acid (NA) significantly lowers the anti-tumor efficacy of APO866, a prototypic NAMPT inhibitor. Additionally, bacteria (from the gut, or in the medium) can convert NAM into NA and thus fuel an alternative NAD synthesis pathway through NA. This leads to the rescue from NAD depletion, prevents reactive oxygen species production, preserves mitochondrial integrity, blunts ATP depletion, and protects cancer cells from death.Our data in an in vivo preclinical model reveal that antibiotic therapy down-modulating gut microbiota can restore the anti-cancer efficacy of APO866. Alternatively, NAphosphoribosyltransferase inhibition may restore anti-cancer activity of NAMPT inhibitors in the presence of gut microbiota and of NAM in the diet.