Cotreatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) enhances imatinib-induced apoptosis of Bcr-Abl–positive human acute leukemia cells

Abstract Here we demonstrate that treatment with SAHA (suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid), a known inhibitor of histone deacetylases (HDACs), alone induced p21 and/or p27 expressions but decreased the mRNA and protein levels of Bcr-Abl, which was associated with apoptosis of Bcr-Abl–expressing K562 and LAMA-84 cells. Cotreatment with SAHA and imatinib (Gleevec) caused more down-regulation of the levels and auto-tyrosine phosphorylation of Bcr-Abl and apoptosis of these cell types, as compared with treatment with either agent alone (P < .05). This finding was also associated with a greater decline in the levels of phospho-AKT and Bcl-xL. Significantly, treatment with SAHA also down-regulated Bcr-Abl levels and induced apoptosis of CD34+ leukemia blast progenitor cells derived from patients who had developed progressive blast crisis (BC) of chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) while receiving therapy with imatinib. Taken together, these findings indicate that cotreatment with SAHA enhances the cytotoxic effects of imatinib and may have activity against imatinib-refractory CML-BC.

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Arsenic induces apoptosis of multidrug-resistant human myeloid leukemia cells that express Bcr-Abl or overexpress MDR, MRP, Bcl-2, or Bcl-xL

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v95.3.1014.003k04_1014_1022 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 95 (3) ◽

pp. 1014-1022 ◽

Cited By ~ 162

Author(s):

Charles Perkins ◽

Caryn N. Kim ◽

Guofu Fang ◽

Kapil N. Bhalla

Keyword(s):

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Blast Crisis ◽

K562 Cells ◽

Cell Types ◽

Multidrug Resistant ◽

Leukemia Cells ◽

Protein Levels ◽

Growth Inhibitory ◽

Induced Apoptosis

We investigated the in vitro growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects of clinically achievable concentrations of As2O3 (0.5 to 2.0 μmol/L) against human myeloid leukemia cells known to be resistant to a number of apoptotic stimuli. These included chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) blast crisis K562 and HL-60/Bcr-Abl cells, which contain p210 and p185 Bcr-Abl, respectively, and HL-60 cell types that overexpress Bcl-2 (HL-60/Bcl-2), Bcl-xL(HL-60/Bcl-xL), MDR (HL-60/VCR), or MRP (HL-60/AR) protein. The growth-inhibitory IC50 values for As2O3 treatment for 7 days against all these cell types ranged from 0.8 to 1.5 μmol/L. Exposure to 2 μmol/L As2O3 for 7 days induced apoptosis of all cell types, including HL-60/Bcr-Abl and K562 cells. This was associated with the cytosolic accumulation of cyt c and preapoptotic mitochondrial events, such as the loss of inner membrane potential (▵Ψm) and the increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS). Treatment with As2O3 (2 μmol/L) generated the activities of caspases, which produced the cleavage of the BH3 domain containing proapoptotic Bid protein and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Significantly, As2O3-induced apoptosis of HL-60/Bcr-Abl and K562 cells was associated with a decline in Bcr-Abl protein levels, without any significant alterations in the levels of Bcl-xL, Bax, Apaf-1, Fas, and FasL. Although As2O3 treatment caused a marked increase in the expression of the myeloid differentiation marker CD11b, it did not affect Hb levels in HL-60/Bcr-Abl, K562, or HL-60/neo cells. However, in these cells, As2O3 potently induced hyper-acetylation of the histones H3 and H4. These findings characterize As2O3 as a growth inhibiting and apoptosis-inducing agent against a variety of myeloid leukemia cells resistant to multiple apoptotic stimuli.

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Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid (Vorinostat) Up-regulates Progranulin Transcription

Journal of Biological Chemistry ◽

10.1074/jbc.m110.193433 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 286 (18) ◽

pp. 16101-16108 ◽

Cited By ~ 94

Author(s):

Basar Cenik ◽

Chantelle F. Sephton ◽

Colleen M. Dewey ◽

Xunde Xian ◽

Shuguang Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Frontotemporal Dementia ◽

Hydroxamic Acid ◽

First Generation ◽

Cultured Cells ◽

Therapeutic Potential ◽

Human Subjects ◽

Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid ◽

Chemical Library ◽

Protein Levels ◽

Deacetylase Inhibitor

Progranulin (GRN) haploinsufficiency is a frequent cause of familial frontotemporal dementia, a currently untreatable progressive neurodegenerative disease. By chemical library screening, we identified suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), a Food and Drug Administration-approved histone deacetylase inhibitor, as an enhancer of GRN expression. SAHA dose-dependently increased GRN mRNA and protein levels in cultured cells and restored near-normal GRN expression in haploinsufficient cells from human subjects. Although elevation of secreted progranulin levels through a post-transcriptional mechanism has recently been reported, this is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report of a small molecule enhancer of progranulin transcription. SAHA has demonstrated therapeutic potential in other neurodegenerative diseases and thus holds promise as a first generation drug for the prevention and treatment of frontotemporal dementia.

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