scholarly journals Impact of the radiated brain microenvironment on a panel of human patient-derived xenografts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jibo Zhang ◽  
Ian E. Olson ◽  
Lucas P. Carlstrom ◽  
Masum Rahman ◽  
Karishma Rajani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Human Patient ◽  
Total N ◽  
Paradoxical Response ◽  
Rate Of Growth ◽  
Divergent Behavior ◽  
Human Gbm ◽  
Molecular Phenotypes ◽  
Fractionated Radiation

AbstractObjectiveRadiotherapy, combined with surgical resection and chemotherapy, remains a first-line treatment for infiltrative gliomas. However, these tumor are not surgically curable, and often recur, even within the prior radiation field, and may demonstrate a more aggressive phenotype. We recently demonstrated that the radiated brain tumor microenvironment promotes tumor aggressiveness in an orthotopic patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model of glioblastoma (Mayo GBM 143). Importantly, high grade gliomas display diverse molecular phenotypes, and whether this genetic variability leads to divergent behaviour in the radiated tumor microenvironment is unknown. Herein, we characterize the effects of the irradiated brain microenvinroment on nine additional unique GBM cell lines to better understand the nuances of how tumor molecular phenotypes influence cellular dynamics.MethodsFemale athymic nude mice were randomly divided into cranial radiation (15 Gy) and non-radiated groups. Mice then underwent intracranial implantation with one of the selected PDX GBM cell lines (GBM 6, 10, 12, 39, 46, 76, 123, 164, 196; total n=8-15, per group, per line). GBM 6 cells were additionally implanted 6 months after completion of fractionated radiation (4Gy × 10 fractions or 2Gy × 30 fractions) vs sham radiation. Kaplan-Meyer (K-M) and log-rank tests were performed to compare the survival between irradiated and non-irradiated groups.ResultOf nine previously untested human GBM lines, we found that five demonstrated shorter survival in the pre-radiated brain (GBM 6, 46, 76, 164, 196); similar to previous observations with GBM 143. GBM 6 was also evaluated 6 months after fractionated radiation yielding similar results. However, two lines yielded prolonged survival in the pre-radiated brain (GBM 10, 12); GBM12 and 10 demonstrated the fastest baseline growth in the non-radiated brain; GBM 39, 123 whose rate of growth was not impacted by the radiated brain, demonstrated a an intermediate baseline growth rate between that of those positively and negatively impacted by the radiated brain microenvironment. No other clinical or molecular phenotype was found to consistently correlate with response to the radiated microenvironment.ConclusionAmong a total of 10 total human GBM lines evaluated to date, 60% induce faster mortality in a radiated microenvironment, and 20% induce slower mortality. These results highlight the likely critical impact of the irradiated microenvironment on tumor behaviour, yet illustrate that different tumors may exhibit opposing responses. Although further evaluation will be needed to understand mechanisms of divergent behavior, our data suggest the increased rate of growth in the radiated microenvironment may not apply to the fastest-growing tumor lines, which could instead demonstrate a paradoxical response.

scholarly journals RBIO-03. HETEROGENEITY OF HUMAN PATIENT-DERIVED XENOGRAFTS GROWTH RATES RESPONSES TO THE RADIATED MICROENVIRONMENT

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii192-ii192
Author(s):  
Jibo zhang ◽  
Ian E Olson ◽  
Lucas P Carlstrom ◽  
Masum Rahman ◽  
Karishma Rajani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Lines ◽  
First Line ◽  
Rank Tests ◽  
Human Patient ◽  
Total N ◽  
Paradoxical Response ◽  
Rate Of Growth ◽  
Divergent Behavior ◽  
Human Gbm ◽  
Molecular Phenotypes

Abstract BACKGROUND Radiotherapy, combined with surgical resection and chemotherapy, remains a first-line treatment for infiltrative gliomas. However, these tumors are not surgically curable, and often recur, even within the prior radiation field, and may demonstrate a more aggressive phenotype. Importantly, high grade gliomas display diverse molecular phenotypes, and whether this genetic variability leads to divergent behaviour in the radiated tumor microenvironment is unknown. Herein, we characterize the effects of the irradiated brain microenvinroment on nine additional unique GBM cell lines to better understand the nuances of how tumor molecular phenotypes influence cellular dynamics. METHODS Female athymic nude mice were randomly divided into cranial radiation (15 Gy) and non-radiated groups. Mice then underwent intracranial implantation with one of the selected patient-derived xenograft (PDX) GBM cell lines (GBM 6, 10, 12, 39, 46, 76, 123, 164, 196; total n=8-15, per group, per line). Kaplan-Meyer (K-M) and log-rank tests were performed to compare the survival between irradiated and non-irradiated groups. RESULT Of nine previously untested human GBM lines, we found that five demonstrated shorter survival in the pre-radiated brain (GBM 6, 46, 76, 164, 196). However, two lines yielded prolonged survival in the pre-radiated brain (GBM 10, 12); GBM 39, 123 whose rate of growth was not impacted by the radiated brain. CONCLUSION These results highlight the likely critical impact of the irradiated microenvironment on tumor behaviour, yet illustrate that different tumors may exhibit opposing responses. Although further evaluation will be needed to understand mechanisms of divergent behavior, our data suggest the increased rate of growth in the radiated microenvironment may not apply to the fastest-growing tumor lines, which could instead demonstrate a paradoxical response.

scholarly journals A Set of Cell Lines Derived from a Genetic Murine Glioblastoma Model Recapitulates Molecular and Morphological Characteristics of Human Tumors

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 230
Author(s):  
Barbara Costa ◽  
Michael N.C. Fletcher ◽  
Pavle Boskovic ◽  
Ekaterina L. Ivanova ◽  
Tanja Eisemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Lines ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Molecular Heterogeneity ◽  
Double Knockout ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Human Glioblastoma ◽  
Human Gbm

Glioblastomas (GBM) are the most aggressive tumors affecting the central nervous system in adults, causing death within, on average, 15 months after diagnosis. Immunocompetent in-vivo models that closely mirror human GBM are urgently needed for deciphering glioma biology and for the development of effective treatment options. The murine GBM cell lines currently available for engraftment in immunocompetent mice are not only exiguous but also inadequate in representing prominent characteristics of human GBM such as infiltrative behavior, necrotic areas, and pronounced tumor heterogeneity. Therefore, we generated a set of glioblastoma cell lines by repeated in vivo passaging of cells isolated from a neural stem cell-specific Pten/p53 double-knockout genetic mouse brain tumor model. Transcriptome and genome analyses of the cell lines revealed molecular heterogeneity comparable to that observed in human glioblastoma. Upon orthotopic transplantation into syngeneic hosts, they formed high-grade gliomas that faithfully recapitulated the histopathological features, invasiveness and immune cell infiltration characteristic of human glioblastoma. These features make our cell lines unique and useful tools to study multiple aspects of glioblastoma pathomechanism and to test novel treatments in an intact immune microenvironment.

scholarly journals Human-interpretable image features derived from densely mapped cancer pathology slides predict diverse molecular phenotypes

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Diao ◽  
Jason K. Wang ◽  
Wan Fung Chui ◽  
Victoria Mountain ◽  
Sai Chowdary Gullapally ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Image Features ◽  
Tissue Type ◽  
Type Model ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Cancer Pathology ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Molecular Phenotypes ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Proteins

AbstractComputational methods have made substantial progress in improving the accuracy and throughput of pathology workflows for diagnostic, prognostic, and genomic prediction. Still, lack of interpretability remains a significant barrier to clinical integration. We present an approach for predicting clinically-relevant molecular phenotypes from whole-slide histopathology images using human-interpretable image features (HIFs). Our method leverages >1.6 million annotations from board-certified pathologists across >5700 samples to train deep learning models for cell and tissue classification that can exhaustively map whole-slide images at two and four micron-resolution. Cell- and tissue-type model outputs are combined into 607 HIFs that quantify specific and biologically-relevant characteristics across five cancer types. We demonstrate that these HIFs correlate with well-known markers of the tumor microenvironment and can predict diverse molecular signatures (AUROC 0.601–0.864), including expression of four immune checkpoint proteins and homologous recombination deficiency, with performance comparable to ‘black-box’ methods. Our HIF-based approach provides a comprehensive, quantitative, and interpretable window into the composition and spatial architecture of the tumor microenvironment.

TAMI-31. GLIOBLASTOMA GENETIC DRIVERS DICTATE THE FUNCTION OF TUMOR-ASSOCIATED MACROPHAGES/MICROGLIA AND RESPONSES TO CSF1R INHIBITION

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi204-vi204
Author(s):  
Rohit Rao ◽  
Rong Han ◽  
Sean Ogurek ◽  
Lai Man Wu ◽  
Liguo Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Tumor Therapy ◽  
Tumor Associated Macrophages ◽  
Transcriptomic Profiling ◽  
Angiogenic Therapy ◽  
Landscape Characterization ◽  
Specific Tumor ◽  
Glioma Growth ◽  
Human Gbm

Abstract Tumor-associated macrophages/microglia (TAMs) are prominent microenvironment components in human glioblastoma (GBM) that are potential targets for anti-tumor therapy. However, TAM depletion by CSF1R inhibition showed mixed results in clinical trials. We hypothesized that GBM subtype-specific tumor microenvironment convey distinct sensitivities to TAM targeting. We generated syngeneic PDGFB-driven and RAS-driven GBM models that resemble proneural-like and mesenchymal-like gliomas, and determined the effect of TAM targeting by CSF1R inhibitor PLX3397 on glioma growth and progression. We also investigated the co-targeting of TAMs and angiogenesis on PLX3397-resistant RAS-driven GBM. Using single-cell transcriptomic profiling, we further explored differences in tumor microenvironment compositions and functions between the proneural-like and mesenchymal-like glioma models. We found that the growth of PDGFB-driven tumors was markedly inhibited by PLX3397. In contrast, depletion of TAMs at the early phase accelerated RAS-driven tumor growth and had no effects on other proneural and mesenchymal human GBM models. In addition, PLX3397-resistant RAS-driven tumors did not respond to PI3K signaling inhibition. Single-cell transcriptomic profiling revealed that PDGFB-driven gliomas induced expansion and activation of pro-tumor microglia, whereas mesenchymal RAS-driven gliomas elicited TAMs enriched in pro-inflammatory and angiogenic signaling. Co-targeting of TAMs and angiogenesis decreased cell proliferation and tumor mass in RAS-driven gliomas. Our work identifies functionally distinct TAM subpopulations in the growth of different glioma subtypes. Notably, we uncover a potential responsiveness of resistant mesenchymal-like gliomas to combined anti-angiogenic therapy and CSF1R inhibition. These data highlight the importance of microenvironment landscape characterization to optimally stratify glioma patients for TAM-targeted therapy.

IMMU-12. TUMOR CELL IDO ENHANCES IMMUNE SUPPRESSION AND DECREASES SURVIVAL INDEPENDENT OF TRYPTOPHAN METABOLISM IN GLIOBLASTOMA

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi94-vi94
Author(s):  
Lijie Zhai ◽  
April Bell ◽  
Erik Ladomersky ◽  
Kristen Lauing ◽  
Lakshmi Bollu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Overall Survival ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Factor H ◽  
Lower Grade ◽  
Complement Factor ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Human Gbm

Abstract OBJECTIVE Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO; IDO1) is an immune checkpoint that’s characterized as a potent immunosuppressive mediator through its ability to metabolize tryptophan and wild-type IDH patient-resected glioblastoma (GBM) expresses IDO in ≥ 95% of cases. Recent findings from our group led us to investigate the alternative hypothesis that IDO possesses immunosuppressive effects that are independent of its associated metabolic activity. METHODS Murine GBM cell lines that overexpress either wild-type or enzyme-null IDO were created for in vivo characterization of IDO enzyme-independent immunosuppressive function. Microarray was conducted to identify human IDO expression-correlated genes, which were further investigated in human GBM cell lines, patient GBM tissues and plasma, as well as the TCGA database. Ex vivo cell co-culture assays and syngeneic mouse orthotopic GBM models were employed to study immunosuppressive mechanisms. RESULTS Here, we demonstrate that non-enzymic IDO activity decreases survival in experimental animals and increases the expression of immunosuppressive complement factor H (CFH) in human GBM. CFH mRNA levels positively correlate with those of IDO and many other immunosuppressive genes in patient resected GBM and can be applied as a prognostic marker in both lower grade gliomas and GBM. Similar to IDO, the increased expression of CFH in patient-resected glioma was positively correlated with an increased signature for regulatory T cells (Tregs) and myeloid-derived suppressive cells (MDSCs). High expression of CFH in tumor cells increases intratumoral Tregs levels and decreases overall survival in mice with GBM, while inducing tumor associated macrophage cell differentiation. CONCLUSIONS Here, we demonstrated that glioblastoma (GBM) cell IDO promotes the accumulation of intratumoral FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and tumor progression while decreasing overall survival - independent of IDO enzyme activity. Our study reveals a targetable non-metabolic IDO-dependent mechanism for future therapeutic intervention in patients with GBM.

scholarly journals The Expression of the Chemokine CXCL14 Correlates with Several Aggressive Aspects of Glioblastoma and Promotes Key Properties of Glioblastoma Cells

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Fazi ◽  
Carla Proserpio ◽  
Silvia Galardi ◽  
Francesca Annesi ◽  
Mattia Cola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Lines ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Primary Brain Tumor ◽  
Migration Ability ◽  
Tumor Onset ◽  
Stromal Microenvironment ◽  
Cxcr4 Receptor ◽  
Human Gbm ◽  
Tumor Growth And Invasion

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary brain tumor whose prognosis is inevitably dismal, leading patients to death in about 15 months from diagnosis. Tumor cells in the mass of the neoplasm are in continuous exchange with cells of the stromal microenvironment, through the production of soluble molecules, among which chemokines play prominent roles. CXCL14 is a chemokine with a pro-tumor role in breast and prostate carcinoma, where it is secreted by cancer associated fibroblasts, and contributes to tumor growth and invasion. We previously observed that CXCL14 expression is higher in GBM tissues than in healthy white matter. Here, we study the effects of exogenously supplemented CXCL14 on key tumorigenic properties of human GBM cell lines. We show that CXCL14 enhances the migration ability and the proliferation of U87MG and LN229 GBM cell lines. None of these effects was affected by the use of AMD3100, an inhibitor of CXCR4 receptor, suggesting that the observed CXCL14 effects are not mediated by this receptor. We also provide evidence that CXCL14 enhances the sphere-forming ability of glioblastoma stem cells, considered the initiating cells, and is responsible for tumor onset, growth and recurrence. In support of our in vitro results, we present data from several GBM expression datasets, demonstrating that CXCL14 expression is inversely correlated with overall survival, that it is enriched at the leading edge of the tumors and in infiltrating tumor areas, and it characterizes mesenchymal and NON G-CIMP tumors, known to have a particularly bad prognosis. Overall, our results point to CXCL14 as a protumorigenic chemokine in GBM.

scholarly journals Effects of Surgical Excision and Radiation on Medulloblastoma Cell Invasiveness

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 631-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrianna Ranger ◽  
Warren McDonald ◽  
Glenn S. Bauman ◽  
Rolando Del Maestro
Keyword(s):  
Single Dose ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Central Cell ◽  
Type I ◽  
Cell Aggregate ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Dose Irradiation ◽  
Cell Invasiveness ◽  
Dose Dependent ◽  
Fractionated Radiation

Objectives:Surgical resection and adjuvant radiation are mainstays of medulloblastoma (MB) patient management. We utilized a novel 3-dimensional assay to identify how (a) radiation, (b) excision of the primary tumour aggregate, and (c) both treatments combined influence MB cell invasiveness.Methods:Five MB cell lines (UW228-1, 2 and 3; Daoy, and Madsen) were implanted onto a 3-dimensional, type I collagen gel assay to assess tumour invasion distance over five days, in response to (1) needle-assisted excision of the central cell aggregate; (2) pre-exposure to single-dose and fractionated dose irradiation in doses from 6-25 and 8-24 Gy, respectively; and (3) excision plus either single-dose or fractionated radiation.Results:Within hours, individual MB cells detached from the surface of the cell aggregates and invaded the collagen matrix, to distances up to 1200 μm and at rates up to 300 μm daily. The UW228-1 cell line was less invasive than the other cell lines and was dropped from further analysis. In the four remaining lines, a dose-dependent decline in tumour invasiveness was identified, both for single-dose and fractionated radiation, which achieved statistically decreased invasion distances at higher doses, especially of fractionated irradiation. Excision of the central tumour aggregate tended towards exerting a late effect on cell invasion, but exerted no significant influence on the radio-sensitivity of residual cells.Conclusions:Both single-dose and fractionated dose irradiation appear to inhibit MB cell invasiveness in a dose-dependent manner, whereas excision of the central cell aggregate exerts no effect on residual invading cells.

scholarly journals ERK1/2 signaling regulates the immune microenvironment and macrophage recruitment in glioblastoma

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Lailler ◽  
Christophe Louandre ◽  
Mony Chenda Morisse ◽  
Thomas Lhossein ◽  
Corinne Godin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Recent Observation ◽  
The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Immune Microenvironment ◽  
Oncogenic Signaling ◽  
Cancer Genome Atlas ◽  
Human Gbm

Abstract The tumor microenvironment is an important determinant of glioblastoma (GBM) progression and response to treatment. How oncogenic signaling in GBM cells modulates the composition of the tumor microenvironment and its activation is unclear. We aimed to explore the potential local immunoregulatory function of ERK1/2 signaling in GBM. Using proteomic and transcriptomic data (RNA seq) available for GBM tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we show that GBM with high levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2 have increased infiltration of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) with a non-inflammatory M2 polarization. Using three human GBM cell lines in culture, we confirmed the existence of ERK1/2-dependent regulation of the production of the macrophage chemoattractant CCL2/MCP1. In contrast with this positive regulation of TAM recruitment, we found no evidence of a direct effect of ERK1/2 signaling on two other important aspects of TAM regulation by GBM cells: (1) the expression of the immune checkpoint ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2, expressed at high mRNA levels in GBM compared with other solid tumors; (2) the production of the tumor metabolite lactate recently reported to dampen tumor immunity by interacting with the receptor GPR65 present on the surface of TAM. Taken together, our observations suggest that ERK1/2 signaling regulates the recruitment of TAM in the GBM microenvironment. These findings highlight some potentially important particularities of the immune microenvironment in GBM and could provide an explanation for the recent observation that GBM with activated ERK1/2 signaling may respond better to anti-PD1 therapeutics.

Aberrant Somatic Hypermutation Targets an Extensive Set of Genes in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.

Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 1528-1528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Pasqualucci ◽  
Roberta Guglielmino ◽  
Sami N. Malek ◽  
Urban Novak ◽  
Mara Compagno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
B Cells ◽  
B Cell ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Cell Lymphoma ◽  
Somatic Hypermutation ◽  
B Cell Lymphoma ◽  
Chromosomal Translocations ◽  
Total N ◽  
Large B Cell Lymphoma ◽  
Large B Cell

Abstract Genomic instability is a driving force in tumor development that can be achieved by a variety of mechanisms, such as defective chromosome segregation or inactivation of the DNA mismatch repair pathway. Although B-cell lymphomas are associated with chromosomal translocations deregulating oncogene expression, a mechanism for genome-wide instability during lymphomagenesis has long not been described. We have reported that the somatic hypermutation process (SHM), which normally targets the immunoglobulin variable region (IgV) and BCL6 genes in germinal center (GC) B-cells, functions aberrantly in >50% of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (Pasqualucci et al., Nature412:341, 2001). As a consequence, multiple somatic mutations are introduced into the 5′ region of genes that do not represent physiologic SHM targets, including known proto-oncogenes such as PIM1, PAX5, RhoH/TTF and cMYC. To further define the extent of this phenomenon, termed aberrant somatic hypermutation (ASHM), and to identify additional hypermutated loci of possible pathogenetic significance in DLBCL, we screened 113 genes for the presence of mutations affecting their 5′ sequences (≥1.3 Kb from the transcription start site, the target region for SHM) in 10 DLBCL cell lines. Fifteen genes (13.3%) were found to harbor a significant number of mutations (p<0.05), with 70% of the cell lines being mutated in 7 or more genes; among these, six B-cell specific loci -BCL7A, CIITA, IRF4, LRMP, NCOA3 and SIAT1- carried 9–53 mutational events distributed in 20 to 70% of the cases, corresponding to an overall mutation frequency of 0.032–0.15% (frequency in the mutated cases: 0.07–0.25%). The same genes were found hypermutated in a panel of 20 primary DLBCL biopsies, which displayed an overall mutation load of 7 to 45 distinct events/gene (total N=125). Mutations were of somatic origin, independent of chromosomal translocations to the Ig loci and were restricted to the first 1.5–2 Kb from the promoter. In addition, analogous to previously identified SHM and ASHM targets, the mutations exhibited characteristic features, including a bias for transitions over transversions, preferential hotspot (RGYW/WRCY motifs) targeting, and higher frequencies at G:C pairs. However, in contrast to physiologic SHM targets such as IgV and BCL6, none of the 4 newly identified hypermutated genes that have been analyzed so far (BCL7A, CIITA, SIAT1, LRMP) displayed significant levels of mutations in purified normal GC B-cells as well as in other B-cell malignancies. This finding indicates that these genes represent aberrant hypermutation targets resulting from a tumor-associated malfunction, possibly a loss of target specificity of the physiologic SHM process. Considering previous results and the present survey, 17 (13%) out of 130 genes investigated have been found involved in ASHM, suggesting that this aberrant activity may involve an extensive set of target genes in DLBCL. Since the mutations affect both regulatory and coding sequences of the targeted genes, aberrant SHM may represent a major contributor to the pathogenesis of this disease and may explain in part its phenotypic and clinical heterogeneity.

ABT-737, an Inhibitor of Bcl-2/Bcl-XL Proteins, Is Cytotoxic in Multiple Myeloma Cells.

Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 1589-1589
Author(s):  
Michael Kline ◽  
Terry Kimlinger ◽  
Michael Timm ◽  
Jessica Haug ◽  
John A. Lust ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Myeloma ◽  
Flow Cytometry ◽  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Plasma Cells ◽  
Annexin V ◽  
Significant Activity ◽  
Rpmi 8226 ◽  
Dose Dependent

Abstract Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell proliferative disorder that is incurable with the currently available therapeutics. New therapies based on better understanding of the disease biology are urgently needed. MM is characterized by accumulation of malignant plasma cells predominantly in the bone marrow. These plasma cells exhibit a relatively low proliferative rate as well as a low rate of apoptosis. Elevated expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members has been reported in MM cell lines as well as in primary patient samples and may be correlated with disease stage as well as resistance to therapy. ABT-737 (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL) is a small-molecule inhibitor designed to specifically inhibit anti-apoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family and binds with high affinity to Bcl-XL, Bcl-2, and Bcl-w. ABT-737 exhibits toxicity in human tumor cell lines, malignant primary cells, and mouse tumor models. We have examined the in vitro activity of this compound in the context of MM to develop a rationale for future clinical evaluation. Methods: MM cell lines were cultured in RPMI 1640 containing 10% fetal bovine serum supplemented with L-Glutamine, penicillin, and streptomycin. The KAS-6/1 cell line was also supplemented with 1 ng/ml IL-6. Cytotoxicity of ABT-737 was measured using the MTT viability assay. Apoptosis was measured using flow cytometry upon cell staining with Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI). Flow cytometry was also used to measure BAX: Bcl-2 ratios after ABT-737 treatment and cell permeabilization with FIX & PERM (Caltag Laboratories, Burlingame, CA) Results: ABT-737 exhibited cytotoxicity in several MM cell lines including RPMI 8226, KAS-6/1, OPM-1, OPM-2, and U266 with an LC50 of 5-10μM. The drug also had significant activity against MM cell lines resistant to conventional agents such as melphalan (LR5) and dexamethasone (MM1.R) with similar LC50 (5-10 μM), as well as against doxorubicin resistant cells (Dox40), albeit at higher doses. Furthermore, ABT-737 retained activity in culture conditions reflective of the permissive tumor microenvironment, namely in the presence of VEGF, IL-6, or in co-culture with marrow-derived stromal cells. ABT-737 was also cytotoxic to freshly isolated primary patient MM cells. Time and dose dependent induction of apoptosis was confirmed using Annexin V/PI staining of the MM cell line RPMI 8226. Flow cytometry analysis of cells treated with ABT-737 demonstrated a time and dose dependent increase in pro-apoptotic BAX protein expression without significant change in the Bcl-XL or Bcl-2 expression. Ongoing studies are examining the parameters and mechanisms of ABT-737 cytotoxicity to MM cells in more detail. Conclusion: ABT-737 has significant activity against MM cell lines and patient derived primary MM cells in vitro. It is able to overcome resistance to conventional anti-myeloma agents suggesting a different mechanism of toxicity that may replace or supplement these therapies. Additionally, it appears to be able to overcome resistance offered by elements of the tumor microenvironment. The results of these studies will form the framework for future clinical evaluation of this agent in the clinical setting.

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