scholarly journals KP772 overcomes multiple drug resistance in malignant lymphoma and leukemia cells in vitro by inducing Bcl-2-independent apoptosis and upregulation of Harakiri

Author(s):  
Lisa Kater ◽  
Benjamin Kater ◽  
Michael A. Jakupec ◽  
Bernhard K. Keppler ◽  
Aram Prokop

AbstractDespite high cure rates in pediatric patients with acute leukemia, development of resistance limits the efficacy of antileukemic therapy. Tris(1,10-phenanthroline)tris(thiocyanato-κN)lanthanum(III) (KP772) is an experimental antineoplastic agent to which multidrug-resistant cell models have shown hypersensitivity. Antiproliferative and apoptotic activities of KP772 were tested in leukemia, lymphoma and solid tumor cell lines as well as primary leukemia cells (isolated from the bone marrow of a child with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The ability to overcome drug resistances was investigated in doxorubicin- and vincristine-resistant cell lines. Real-time PCR was used to gain insight into the mechanism of apoptosis induction. KP772 inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in various leukemia and lymphoma cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner (LC50 = 1–2.5 µM). Primary AML cells were also sensitive to KP772, whereas daunorubicin showed no significant effect. KP772 induces apoptosis independently of Bcl-2, Smac, and the CD95 receptor and is also effective in caspase 3-deficient MCF7 cells, indicating that apoptosis is partly triggered independently of caspase 3. mRNA expression profiling revealed an upregulation of the BH3-only Bcl-2 protein Harakiri in the course of KP772-induced apoptosis. Remarkably, KP772 overcame drug resistance to doxorubicin and vincristine in vitro, and the apoptotic effect in resistant cells was even superior to that in non-resistant parental cells. In combination with vincristine, doxorubicin and cytarabine, synergistic effects were observed in BJAB cells. The cytotoxic potency in vitro/ex vivo and the remarkable ability to overcome multidrug resistance propose KP772 as a promising candidate drug for antileukemic therapy, especially of drug-refractory malignancies.Graphic abstract

Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 111 (5) ◽  
pp. 2797-2805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng-Ting Liu ◽  
Samir G. Agrawal ◽  
John G. Gribben ◽  
Hongtao Ye ◽  
Ming-Qing Du ◽  
...  

Proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bax is a crucial protein in the induction of apoptosis, and its activation is required for this process. Here we report that Bax is a short-lived protein in malignant B cells and Bax protein levels decreased rapidly when protein synthesis was blocked. Malignant B cells were relatively resistant to tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL)–induced apoptosis, and this correlated with low basal Bax protein levels. Furthermore, during treatment with TRAIL, the resistant cell lines showed prominent Bax degradation activity. This degradation activity was localized to mitochondrial Bax and could be prevented by truncated Bid, a BH3-only protein; in contrast, cytosolic Bax was relatively stable. The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib is a potent drug in inducing apoptosis in vitro in malignant B-cell lines and primary chronic lymphocytic leukemic (CLL) cells. In CLL cells, bortezomib induced Bax accumulation, translocation to mitochondria, conformational change, and oligomerization. Accumulation and stabilization of Bax protein by bortezomib-sensitized malignant B cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. This study reveals that Bax instability confers resistance to TRAIL, which can be reversed by Bax stabilization with a proteasome inhibitor.


Blood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (9) ◽  
pp. 3368-3375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nozomi Niitsu ◽  
Yuri Yamaguchi ◽  
Masanori Umeda ◽  
Yoshio Honma

Abstract The adenosine deaminase (ADA) inhibitor 2′-deoxycoformycin (dCF) significantly inhibits the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cell lines. When cells were incubated in the presence of both dCF and 2′-deoxyadenosine (dAd), the concentration of dCF required to induce apoptosis of monocytoid leukemia cells was much lower than that required for myeloid, erythroid, or lymphoma cell lines. Among the cell lines tested, U937 cells were the most sensitive to this treatment. The concentration of dCF that effectively inhibited the proliferation of U937 cells was 1/1,000 of that required for lymphoma cell lines, on a molar basis. However, the uptake of dCF or dAd in U937 cells was comparable with that in other leukemia and lymphoma cell lines. The intracellular accumulation of dATP in U937 cells was only slightly higher than that in other leukemia cells in dCF-treated culture. Treatment with dCF plus dAd induced apoptosis in U937 cells at low concentrations, and this apoptosis was reduced by treatment with caspase inhibitors. Induction of caspase-3 (CPP32) activity accompanied the apoptosis induced by dCF plus dAd. No activation of CPP32 was observed in cytosol prepared from exponentially growing leukemia and lymphoma cells. However, dATP effectively induced CPP32 activation in cytosol from monocytoid cells, but not in that from nonmonocytoid cells, suggesting that dATP-dependent CPP32 activation is at least partly involved in the preferential induction of apoptosis in monocytoid leukemia cells. The combination of dCF and dAd may be useful for the clinical treatment of acute monocytic leukemia. © 1998 by The American Society of Hematology.


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 1593-1593
Author(s):  
Tanyel Kiziltepe ◽  
Kenji Ishitsuka ◽  
Teru Hideshima ◽  
Noopur Raje ◽  
Norihiko Shiraishi ◽  
...  

Abstract Multiple myeloma (MM) is currently an incurable hematological malignancy. A major reason for the failure of currently existing therapies is the chemotherapeutic resistance acquired by the MM cells upon treatment. Overexpression of glutathione S-transferases (GST) has been shown as one possible mechanism of anti-cancer drug resistance in a broad spectrum of tumor cells. JS-K (O2-(2,4-Dinitrophenyl) 1-[(4-ethoxycarbonyl)piperazin-1-yl]diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate) belongs to a class of pro-drugs which are designed to release nitric oxide (NO) on reaction with GST. JS-K can possibly turn GST overexpression to the tumor’s disadvantage by (1) consuming intracellular GSH and preventing drug inactivation; and (2) by exposing tumor cells to high intracellular concentrations of NO. JS-K has potent in vitro and in vivo anti-leukemic activity. The purpose of the present study is to examine the biological effects of JS-K on human MM cells. We demonstrate that JS-K has significant in vitro cytotoxicity on MM cell lines, with an IC50 of 0.3-2 mM at 48 hours. JS-K also induces cytotoxicity on cell lines that are resistant to conventional chemotherapy (i.e., MM1R, RPMI-Dox40, RPMI-LR5, RPMI-MR20). Importantly, no cytotoxic effects of JS-K were detected on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) obtained from healthy volunteers at these doses. Moreover, JS-K could overcome the survival and growth advantages conferred by interleukin-6 (IL-6) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), or by adherence of MM cells to bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC). JS-K caused a transient G2/M arrest followed by apoptosis, as determined by flow cytometric analysis using PI, Annexin V and Apo2.7 staining. JS-K-induced apoptosis was associated with caspase 8, 7, 9 and 3 activation. Interestingly, Fas was upregulated by JS-K, suggesting the involvement of death receptor pathway in induction of apoptosis. JS-K also triggered Mcl-1 cleavage and Bcl-2 phosphorylation, suggesting the involvement of mitochondrial pathway. In addition, apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), endonuclease G (EndoG) and cytochrome c were released into the cytosol during apoptosis. Taken together, these findings suggest the involvement of both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways in JS-K-induced apoptosis in MM cells. In summary, our studies demonstrate that JS-K induces apoptosis and overcomes in vitro drug resistance in MM cells. Therefore, JS-K is a novel compound which carries significant potential to be included in the repertoire of existing treatment modalities for MM. Ongoing studies are delineating the mechanism of action of JS-K to provide the preclinical rationale for combination therapies to overcome drug resistance and improve patient outcome.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 4783-4783
Author(s):  
Hirokazu Miki ◽  
Shuji Ozaki ◽  
Osamu Tanaka ◽  
Shiro Fujii ◽  
Shingen Nakamura ◽  
...  

Abstract Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy characterized by the accumulation of neoplastic plasma cells in the bone marrow. Although new classes of agents such as thalidomide, lenalidomide, and bortezomib have shown marked anti-MM activity in clinical settings, MM remains an incurable disease due to increased resistance to these agents. Therefore, alternative approaches are necessary to overcome drug resistance in MM. KRN5500 is a new derivative of spicamycin produced by Streptomyces alanosinicus (Kirin Pharma, Tokyo, Japan). This drug potently decreases protein synthesis and inhibits cell growth in human tumor cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. Several phase I studies of KRN5500 were conducted in patients with solid tumors, which showed Cmax values of 1000–3000 nM at the maximum tolerated doses. However, no objective anti-tumor response to KRN5500 alone was observed in these patients. In this study, we examined the anti-tumor activity of KRN5500 against MM cells and evaluated its therapeutic potential in combination with other anti-MM agents. MM cell lines and freshly-isolated MM cells were incubated with various concentrations of KRN5500 for 24 hours. Cell proliferation assay showed marked inhibition of cell growth in MM cells such as RPMI 8226, KMS12-BM, and UTMC-2 (IC50 = 10–40 nM), and U266, MM.1S, and primary MM cells (IC50 = 500–1000 nM). Importantly, a chemotherapy-resistant subclone of RPMI 8226 had a similar sensitivity to KRN5500. Annexin V/propidium iodide staining confirmed that KRN5500 induced apoptosis of MM cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Moreover, cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was detected after 24 hours with only modest activation of caspase-8, -9, and -3 by immunoblotting. Flow cytometric analysis of anti-apoptotic proteins revealed that apoptosis induced by KRN5500 was associated with down-regulation of Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 expression. To determine the effect of KRN5500 on the unfolded protein response (UPR), splicing of XBP-1 mRNA was analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. In response to stimulation with KRN5500, splicing of XBP-1 mRNA occurred after 24 hours in RPMI 8226 cells, suggesting that KRN5500-induced apoptosis is mediated in part by the inhibition of UPR. Furthermore, synergistic effects on MM cells were observed when KRN5500 was combined with anti-MM agents including melphalan, dexamethasone, and bortezomib. These results suggest that KRN5500 induces apoptosis in MM cells mainly by the caspase-independent pathway and that its unique mechanism of action provides a valuable therapeutic option to overcome drug resistance in patients with MM.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 780-780
Author(s):  
Edward Allan R. Sison ◽  
Daniel Magoon ◽  
Eric Chevalier ◽  
Klaus Dembowsky ◽  
Patrick Brown

Abstract Abstract 780 Background: The interaction between the cell surface receptor CXCR4 and the chemokine SDF-1 (CXCL12) is critical in signaling between leukemic blasts and the bone marrow microenvironment. We previously demonstrated that CXCR4 is an important mediator of chemotherapy resistance, as chemotherapy-induced upregulation of s-CXCR4 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines and primary samples led to increased SDF-1-mediated chemotaxis and increased protection by normal human bone marrow stroma from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. We also showed that stromal protection and chemotherapy resistance could be reversed by treatment with the FDA-approved CXCR4 inhibitor plerixafor, both in vitro in stromal co-cultures of pre-B cell ALL cell lines and in vivo in xenografts of primary samples of infant MLL-rearranged ALL. Therefore, disruption of the CXCR4/SDF-1 axis is a rational means to target extrinsic survival mechanisms in acute leukemia. The novel Protein Epitope Mimetic (PEM) POL5551 is a selective and potent antagonist of CXCR4. Treatment with POL5551 inhibits vascular accumulation of CXCR4+ smooth muscle cells but its effects on ALL have not been reported. We hypothesized that treatment of ALL cell lines with POL5551 would 1) decrease s-CXCR4 expression, 2) inhibit SDF-1-mediated chemotaxis, and 3) reverse stromal-mediated protection from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Methods/Results: Pre-B cell ALL (697, HB11;19, NALM-6, SEMK2) and T cell ALL cell lines (CCRF-CEM-1301, Jurkat, Molt-4) were treated with dose ranges of POL5551. Cells were harvested at multiple time points over 72 hours and s-CXCR4 was measured by FACS. S-CXCR4 was potently and markedly reduced in all cell lines, with IC50 levels of <5 nM at 1 hour and IC50 levels of <20 nM at 48 hours. In comparison, 3- to 30-fold higher doses of plerixafor were needed to achieve similar levels of reduction. Simultaneous measurement of cell proliferation using the WST-1 proliferation assay demonstrated that treatment with POL5551 neither increased nor decreased leukemia cell proliferation in a significant manner. To ascertain the functionality of s-CXCR4 inhibition, we performed chemotaxis assays. Leukemia cells were treated with 10 nM POL5551 or vehicle control and placed into hanging cell culture inserts. Migration through a permeable membrane toward an SDF-1 gradient was then measured after 24 hours. Compared to control-treated cells, POL5551-treated cells had significantly decreased SDF-1-induced chemotaxis (average 38% reduction in chemotaxis in pre-B cell lines, p<0.001; average 41% reduction in T cell lines, p=0.05). We also performed co-culture experiments with normal human bone marrow stroma in the presence and absence of POL5551 to further demonstrate the functional effects of s-CXCR4 inhibition. Specifically, we cultured leukemia cells off stroma (O), on stroma (S), or pretreated with POL5551 for 30 minutes prior to plating on stroma (P+S). Cells from each culture condition were then treated with dose ranges of chemotherapy. Following treatment, we measured apoptosis by staining with Annexin V/7-AAD. IC10 through IC90 values were obtained using Calcusyn. To quantify stromal protection, we calculated a Protective Index (PI), defined as the S IC values divided by the O IC values. Thus, PI >1 signified stromal protection, while PI ≤1 signified no stromal protection. To quantify the ability of POL5551 to reverse stromal protection, we calculated a Reversal Index (RI), defined as the P+S IC values divided by the O IC values. Therefore, PI > RI indicated a decrease in stromal protection, while RI ≤1 indicated a reversal of stromal protection. Overall, stroma protected leukemia cells from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Importantly, treatment with POL5551 abrogated stromal-mediated protection and restored chemosensitivity (eg, PI 1.182 vs. RI 0.956 for NALM-6 treated with daunorubicin +/− 20 nM POL5551, p<1×10e-9). Conclusions: The novel CXCR4 antagonist POL5551 is a potent inhibitor of CXCR4 in pre-B and T ALL cell lines with activity at nanomolar concentrations in decreasing s-CXCR4 expression, inhibiting SDF-1-induced chemotaxis, and reversing stromal-mediated protection from chemotherapy in vitro. Therefore, if our findings are confirmed in primary samples and in vivo, interruption of leukemia-microenvironment signaling with POL5551 may prove to be an effective strategy in the treatment of pre-B and T cell ALL. Disclosures: Chevalier: Polyphor Ltd: Employment. Dembowsky:Polyphor Ltd: Employment.


Blood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 1361-1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A Luedtke ◽  
Yongwei Su ◽  
Holly Edwards ◽  
Lisa Polin ◽  
Juiwanna Kushner ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) face overall 5-year survival rates of 65% and 27% for children and adults, respectively, leaving significant room for improvement. Relapse remains a major contributor to such low overall survival rates, and leukemic stem cells (LSCs) that survive treatment are believed to be responsible for AML relapse. The anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 is overexpressed in bulk AML cells and LSCs and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Thus, Bcl-2 represents a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of AML. Venetoclax (ABT-199) is a selective Bcl-2 inhibitor that has shown great potential for treating a number of malignancies, including AML. Venetoclax inhibits Bcl-2, preventing it from sequestering pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family protein Bim, leading to Bim activated Bax/Bak, resulting in apoptosis. However, Mcl-1 can also sequester Bim and prevent apoptosis. We previously showed that directly targeting Mcl-1 can enhance the antileukemic activity of venetoclax (Luedtke DA, et al. Signal Transduct Target Ther. Apr 2017). Alternatively, we proposed that indirect targeting of Mcl-1 may preserve or enhance the antileukemic activity of venetoclax, and prevent resistance resulting from Mcl-1. It has been reported that inhibition of CDK9 can downregulate cell survival genes regulated by superenhancers, including Mcl-1, MYC, and Cyclin D1. One CDK9 inhibitor in clinical development, flavopiridol (alvocidib), has progressed to phase II clinical trials in AML. However, off target effects and dose-limiting toxicities remain a concern. Voruciclib is an oral, selective CDK inhibitor differentiated by its potent inhibition of CDK9 as compared to other CDK inhibitors. This selectivity may potentially circumvent toxicities resulting from inhibition of non-CDK targets like MAK and ICK that are inhibited by flavopiridol. Voruciclib has been shown in vitro to promote apoptosis and decrease Mcl-1 expression levels in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells (Paiva C, et al. PLOS One. Nov 2015) and inhibit tumor growth in mouse xenograft models of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in combination with venetoclax (Dey J. et al Scientific Reports. Dec 2017). Based on these data, voruciclib may downregulate Mcl-1 in AML cells and therefore synergistically enhance the antileukemic activity of venetoclax. Methods/Results: Culturing AML cell lines (THP-1, U937, MOLM-13, MV4-11, and OCI-AML3) and primary patient samples with various concentrations of voruciclib resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in Annexin V+ cells (2 μM voruciclib induced 13.8-55.8% Annexin V+ cells) along with increased levels of cleaved caspase 3 and PARP, demonstrating that voruciclib induces apoptosis in AML cells. Next, we tested the combination of voruciclib and venetoclax in AML cell lines and primary AML patient samples at clinically achievable concentrations. Annexin V/PI staining, flow cytometry analysis, and combination index calculation (using CalcuSyn software) revealed synergistic induction of apoptosis by voruciclib and venetoclax combination (combination index values for MV4-11, U937, THP-1, and MOLM-13 cells were <0.73; treatment with 2 µM voruciclib and venetoclax for 24 h resulted in >80% apoptosis). Importantly, synergy was observed in both venetoclax sensitive and resistant cell lines. This was accompanied by increased cleavage of caspase 3 and PARP. Lentiviral shRNA knockdown of Bak and Bax partially rescued AML cells from voruciclib-induced apoptosis, showing that voruciclib induces apoptosis at least partially through the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. However, Bak and Bax knockdown had little to no effect on induction of apoptosis by the combination treatment, indicating that there might be other molecular mechanisms underlying the synergistic interaction between the two agents. Treatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK partially rescued cells from combination treatment induced-apoptosis. Discussion: Collectively, these results demonstrate that voruciclib and venetoclax synergistically induce apoptosis in AML cells in vitro and reverse venetoclax resistance. Further studies to determine the mechanism of action and in vivo efficacy of this promising combination in AML xenografts and PDX models are underway. Disclosures Ge: MEI Pharma: Research Funding.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin-Yu Li ◽  
Xin Zhou ◽  
Yu- Liu ◽  
Feng Qiu ◽  
Qing-Qing Zhao

Abstract Purpose: NeosedumosideIII (Neo) is a megastigmanes and belongs to monocyclic sesquiterpenoids compound with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and other pharmacological activities. In order to explore the anti-cancer effect and possible mechanism of Neo, the study examined the anti-proliferation and apoptosis effect of Neo against human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and SMMC-772 cells and related mechanism in vitro. Methods :The anti-proliferation effect of Neo was detected on HepG2 cells and SMMC-772 cells by MTT assay and IC50 with increasing dose and time. Cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometer. The changes of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3, Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 proteins were detected by western blotting.Results :The results indicated that Neo could inhibited proliferation of HepG2 cells and SMMC-772 cells in vitro and promoted apoptosis, it significantly induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells and SMMC-772 cells arrested cell cycle at G0/G1 phase in a dose-dependent manner, reduce the expression of Bcl-2 protein, and increase the expression of Bax and Caspase-3, Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 proteins. Conclusion:Neo could inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of HepG2 cells and SMMC-7721 cells in vivo which suggested that it might be served as a promising candidate for the treatment of liver cancer.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros Georgiou ◽  
Adam Stewart ◽  
Georgios Vlachogiannis ◽  
Lisa Pickard ◽  
Nicola Valeri ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose We hypothesised that plasticity in signal transduction may be a mechanism of drug resistance and tested this hypothesis in the setting of cetuximab resistance in patients with KRAS/NRAS/BRAFV600 wild-type colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods A multiplex antibody-based platform was used to study simultaneous changes in signal transduction of 55 phospho-proteins in 12 KRAS/NRAS/BRAFV600 wild-type CRC cell lines (6 cetuximab sensitive versus 6 cetuximab resistant) following 1 and 4 h in vitro cetuximab exposure. We validated our results in CRC patient samples (n = 4) using ex vivo exposure to cetuximab in KRAS/NRAS/BRAFV600 cells that were immunomagnetically separated from the serous effusions of patients with known cetuximab resistance. Results Differences in levels of phospho-proteins in cetuximab sensitive and resistant cell lines included reductions in phospho-RPS6 and phospho-PRAS40 in cetuximab sensitive, but not cetuximab resistant cell lines at 1 and 4 h, respectively. In addition, phospho-AKT levels were found to be elevated in 3/4 patient samples following ex vivo incubation with cetuximab for 1 h. We further explored these findings by studying the effects of combinations of cetuximab and two PI3K pathway inhibitors in 3 cetuximab resistant cell lines. The addition of PI3K pathway inhibitors to cetuximab led to a significantly higher reduction in colony formation capacity compared to cetuximab alone. Conclusion Our findings suggest activation of the PI3K pathway as a mechanism of cetuximab resistance in KRAS/NRAS/BRAFV600 wild-type CRC.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel B. Liszbinski ◽  
Graziela G. Romagnoli ◽  
Carolina M. Gorgulho ◽  
Caroline R. Basso ◽  
Valber A. Pedrosa ◽  
...  

The aim of the current study is to present a strategy to improve the efficiency of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which is widely used as antineoplastic agent against solid tumors-based on the use of gold nanocarriers to overcome the resistance of colorectal cancer cells. 5-FU was loaded on gold nanoparticles (AuNP) coated with anti-EGFR antibodies in order to target them towards colorectal cancer cells that overexpress epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR). Physicochemical characterization has shown that AuNP size was approximately 20 nm and that AuNP functionalization led to spherical nanoparticles. Flow cytometry allowed observing that some compounds synthesized by our research group have induced apoptosis/necrosis and impaired the proliferation of colon cancer cell lines ‘HCT-116′ and ‘HT-29′. The antibody/drug combination in AuNP (AuNP 5FU EGFR) has improved the apoptosis rate and impaired cell proliferation in both cell lines, regardless of the exposure time. Overall, these results have shown that AuNP functionalization with monoclonal antibodies focused on delivering 5-FU to tumor cells is an exciting strategy against colorectal cancer.


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