Reversible anergy of sIgM-mediated signaling in the two subsets of CLL defined by VH-gene mutational status

Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 109 (10) ◽  
pp. 4424-4431 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ian Mockridge ◽  
Kathleen N. Potter ◽  
Isla Wheatley ◽  
Louise A. Neville ◽  
Graham Packham ◽  
...  

Abstract The 2 subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), of worse or better prognosis, likely derive from pre-GC unmutated B cells, or post-GC mutated B cells, respectively. Different clinical behavior could relate to the ability of tumor cells to respond to surface (sIg)–mediated signals. Unmutated cases (U-CLL) have an increased ability to phosphorylate p72Syk in response to sIgM ligation compared to mutated cases (M-CLL). We now confirm and further investigate this differential signaling in a large cohort by [Ca2+]i mobilization. Cases responding to sIgM ligation express higher levels of CD38, ZAP-70, and sIgM. However, CD38 does not influence signaling in vitro or associate with response in bimodal CD38-expressing cases. Similarly, ZAP-70 expression is not required for response in either U-CLL or M-CLL. Strikingly, partially or completely anergized sIgM responses from each subset can recover both sIgM expression and signal capacity spontaneously in vitro or following capping/endocytosis. This provides direct evidence for engagement of putative antigen in vivo. Signaling via sIgD differs markedly being almost universally positive in both U-CLL and M-CLL, with no association with CD38 or ZAP-70 expression. Downstream signaling pathways, therefore, appear intact in CLL, locating anergy to sIgM, mainly in M-CLL. Integration of differential isotype-specific effects mediated by (auto)antigen may determine tumor behavior.

Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 3893-3893
Author(s):  
Daniel Mertens ◽  
Nupur Bhattacharya ◽  
Sarah Häbe ◽  
Hartmut Döhner ◽  
Stephan Stilgenbauer

Abstract Abstract 3893 Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells are highly dependent on microenvironmental input for their extended survival in vivo, but the underlying molecular mechanism is still unclear. Compared to non-malignant B-cells, CLL cells are more responsive to contact dependent complex stimuli like coculture on bone marrow derived stromal cell lines of both human (p<0.0001) and murine origin (p<0.01), but also to soluble factors (human conditioned medium p<0.0001, murine conditioned medium p<0.001, all student′s t-test). In order to understand the intrinsic difference of the anti-apoptotic phenotype of CLL cells, the signalling circuitry of the malignant cells was modelled. Compared to candidate ligands like SDF-1 (at concentrations between 10–1000ng/ml), BAFF (250–1000ng/ml), APRIL (250–1000ng/ml) and soluble anti-IgM (1–25μg/ml), the factors CD40L (10–2000ng/ml) and IL4 (0.1–10ng/ml) were the most efficient ligands in rescuing CLL cells from spontaneous death in vitro. The dose response of IL4 and CD40L displayed different saturation and cooperativity between CLL cells and non-malignant B-cells. Using IL4, saturation was reached both for CLL cells and B-cells at 0.2pM, but at 52% survival (+/− 8%) for CLL cells and 28% (+/−7%) for B-cells, and the estimated dissociation constant Kd was 0.01pM for both ligands. For CD40L, CLL cell survival reached saturation at 40nM, while no saturation was reached for B-cells. Intriguingly, B-cells showed cooperativity in their response to CD40L, with a cooperativity coefficient of 2.0 and a Kd of 70pM, while cooperativity for CD40L was lost in CLL cells (Kd of only 2.6pM). This pointed towards distinct differences in ligand-receptor interactions or in downstream signaling between CLL cells and non-malignant B-cells. However, high-throughput spatial analysis with a microscope-coupled cytometer did not show differences of receptor quantity or receptor distribution between malignant and non-malignant cells. In contrast, quantity and phosphorylation levels of downstream signalling nodes like STAT6 (measured by flow cytometry and validated by Western-blot) and the activity of NF-kB (p65 binding to DNA measured by oligonucleotide-coupled ELISA) were higher in CLL cells compared to B-cells from healthy donors. Therefore, the defect in IL4 and CD40L signalling that leads to an enhanced survival in CLL cells is likely caused by changes in the intracellular circuitry. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 122 (21) ◽  
pp. 5296-5296
Author(s):  
Min Chen ◽  
Claude Capron ◽  
Gilbert Faure ◽  
Marc Maynadie ◽  
Pierre Feugier ◽  
...  

Abstract Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by the accumulation in the peripheral blood, secondary lymphoid tissues and bone marrow of functionally defective clonal B lymphocytes with prolonged survival in vivo. Despite therapeutic achievements have been accomplished in the management of this disease, however CLL remains incurable partially because of the resistance to apoptosis of CLL B-cells and of the altered immune system of CLL patients. CLL is hetereogenous, but its evolution is mostly slow, probably linked to some level of immune control of the leukemic cells. Indeed, clinical observations have been reported of spontaneous remissions associated with the intense immunological activity following a viral infection. Clinical responses have also been observed after treatment by immunomodulating cytokines and long-term survival is described, without disease, after allogeneic stem cells transplantation. All these data suggest that immunotherapy could be useful in the treatment of CLL, possibly as an adjuvant therapy after classical immunochemotherapy schedules. Toll like receptors (TLR) are proteins of the innate immune system belonging to the family of Pattern Recognition receptors (PRRs). Recognition of their ligands by the TLR present on neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells and B-cells are important in the initiation of adaptive immune responses. TLR-7 and 9 are expressed by CLL B-cells (Grandjenette, Hematologica, 2007). Previous studies have shown that stimulation of TLR-9 by CpG ODN (oligodinucleotides) induces an activation of CLL B-cells while triggering TLR-7 increases in vitro apoptosis of these cells. Here we show that these effects of TLR-9 and TLR-7 stimulation differ depending on the clinical form (stable or aggressive) of the disease and on the mutational status of CLL B-cells. In vitro stimulation with three doses of Imiquimod R837 or ODN CpG M362 was carried out for three days on cells from 40 patients (22 stable, 18 aggressive, mutational status known for 35, 18 IgVH mutated, 17 unmutated). Flow cytometry was used to measure apoptosis, proliferation after carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) labeling and modulation of surface differentiation antigens. Signaling pathways after incubation were further studied by antibody arrays and western blot. Spontaneous apoptosis occurring in vitro was demonstrated to involve the mitochondrial pathway. CLL B-cells were also confirmed to proliferate strongly and produce large amounts of IL-6 and IL-8 upon triggering by phorbol myrsistate (positive control), this compound almost completely aborting in vitro apoptosis. Cells from patients with a stable disease were significantly more prone to rapid apoptosis after TLR-7 triggering with Imiquimod, compared to cells from patients with an aggressive disease which displayed only spontaneous apoptosis. This rapid apoptosis in stable patients involved the p38 MAP-Kinase pathway. It was concomitant to an important production of IL-8 and IL-6. Conversely, CpG ODN conferred a protection against apoptosis to CLL B-cells from patients with an aggressive disease. This was accompanied by the activation of numerous anti-apoptotic proteins in the cells. CpG ODN also significantly increased CLL B-cells proliferation, concomitantly to the phosphorylation of Erk and Akt proteins. ODN finally increased the expression of CD20 and CD19 on the cells’surface. The same differences in reactivity were observed comparing mutated (∼stable) and unmutated (∼aggressive) cases. These data indicate that CLL B-cells from patients with a stable or aggressive (mutated/unmutated) disease answer differently when triggered through their surface TLRs. This might have an incidence on the behavior of these cells in vivo, in answer to stimulations by microbial compounds naturally binding these structures. These properties could also be used to develop adjuvant immunotherapies by loading CpG ODN-activated CLL B-cells with autologous apoptotic fragments issued from stimulation of part of the same cells with Imiquimod. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 1607-1613 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Digel ◽  
W Schoniger ◽  
M Stefanic ◽  
H Janssen ◽  
C Buck ◽  
...  

Abstract Recombinant tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a cytokine that induces proliferation of neoplastic B cells from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). To gain insight into the mechanisms involved in regulating TNF responsiveness, we have examined TNF receptor expression on neoplastic B-CLL cells. We have demonstrated that freshly isolated neoplastic B cells from patients with CLL did not express TNF receptors. After 1 day of incubation in culture medium, TNF receptors were detectable in the range of 540 to 1,500/cell. Kinetic experiments revealed that receptor expression was half-maximal after 3 hours of culturing and required de novo protein synthesis. The Scatchard plots of TNF-alpha binding indicated a single set of high- affinity TNF receptors with a dissociation constant of 70 pmol/L. TNF receptor expression in vitro was found in all examined cases. All cytokines tested, with the exception of IL-2, did not influence the expression of TNF receptors. The TNF receptor expression is enhanced in B-CLL cells cultured in the presence of interleukin-2 when compared with the receptor expression of cells cultured in medium alone. Our data suggest that neoplastic B-CLL cells in patients with stable disease do not express TNF receptors in vivo and that an unknown mechanism suppressing TNF receptor expression in vivo may play a role in growth regulation of neoplastic B cells.


Blood ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 2583-2593 ◽  
Author(s):  
SS Evans ◽  
DB Lee ◽  
T Han ◽  
TB Tomasi ◽  
RL Evans

Abstract Interferon (IFN)-alpha inhibits DNA synthesis stimulated by low molecular weight B-cell growth factor (BCGF) in hairy cells in vitro, suggesting that the therapeutic efficacy of IFN-alpha in hairy cell leukemia (HCL) involves growth inhibition of malignant B cells. Evidence that the 16-Kd cell surface protein Leu-13 mediates an antiproliferative signal in T lymphocytes and is IFN-inducible in endothelial cells prompted us to examine the expression and functional role of this molecule in leukemic B cells. Leu-13 density, determined by flow cytometry, was upregulated in vitro and in vivo by IFN-alpha on malignant B cells from patients with HCL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and prolymphocytic leukemia. Monoclonal anti-Leu-13 triggered homotypic aggregation of leukemic B cells via an adhesion pathway that was not inhibited by antibodies to leukocyte function associated antigen-1 (LFA- 1) or intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Moreover, anti-Leu-13 potentiated the inhibitory effects of IFN-alpha on BCGF-stimulated DNA synthesis, assessed by [3H]-thymidine and [3H]-deoxyadenosine incorporation into DNA. These results indicate that Leu-13 is part of a novel IFN-inducible signaling pathway which may modify the growth and adhesive properties of leukemic B cells under physiologic or therapeutic conditions.


Blood ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 79 (11) ◽  
pp. 2981-2989 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Schena ◽  
LG Larsson ◽  
D Gottardi ◽  
G Gaidano ◽  
M Carlsson ◽  
...  

Abstract The bcl-2 gene is translocated into the Ig loci in about 80% of human follicular lymphomas and in 10% of B-type chronic lymphocytic leukemias (B-CLL), resulting in a high level of expression. We have compared the expression of bcl-2 transcripts and protein in B-CLL cells in their normal equivalent CD5+ B cells and in normal B-cell populations representative of different in vivo and in vitro stages of activation and proliferation. We report here that bcl-2 was expressed in 11 of 11 cases of CD5+ B-CLL clones, contrasting with the absent expression in normal CD5+ B cells. Activation of 173 and 183 B-CLL cells by phorbol esters (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate [TPA]) to IgM secretion without concomitant DNA synthesis resulted in a rapid but transient downregulation of bcl-2 expression. In contrast, the reduction of bcl-2 at both the messenger RNA and protein levels was sustained after mitogenic stimulation, suggesting that bcl-2 expression and proliferation are inversely related in these cells. This notion was further supported by immunocytochemical analysis showing that bcl-2 was primarily expressed in small resting lymphocytes and in cells differentiating to the plasma cell stage, but less expressed in Ki67- positive proliferating B blasts. Moreover, it was also supported by the low level of bcl-2 in exponentially growing Epstein-Barr virus-carrying lymphoblastoid and B-CLL cell lines. The regulation of bcl-2 expression in B-CLL resembled that of normal tonsillar follicular B cells, in which a high level of expression was found in resting mantle zone B cells but not in the proliferating germinal center B cells. Based on these findings and the role of bcl-2 in maintaining B-cell memory, we propose that the phenotype of B-CLL cells corresponds to a mantle zone memory-type B cell.


2002 ◽  
Vol 196 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmela Gurrieri ◽  
Peter McGuire ◽  
Hong Zan ◽  
Xiao-Jie Yan ◽  
Andrea Cerutti ◽  
...  

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) arises from the clonal expansion of a CD5+ B lymphocyte that is thought not to undergo intraclonal diversification. Using VHDJH cDNA single strand conformation polymorphism analyses, we detected intraclonal mobility variants in 11 of 18 CLL cases. cDNA sequence analyses indicated that these variants represented unique point-mutations (1–35/patient). In nine cases, these mutations were unique to individual submembers of the CLL clone, although in two cases they occurred in a large percentage of the clonal submembers and genealogical trees could be identified. The diversification process responsible for these changes led to single nucleotide changes that favored transitions over transversions, but did not target A nucleotides and did not have the replacement/silent nucleotide change characteristics of antigen-selected B cells. Intraclonal diversification did not correlate with the original mutational load of an individual CLL case in that diversification was as frequent in CLL cells with little or no somatic mutations as in those with considerable mutations. Finally, CLL B cells that did not exhibit intraclonal diversification in vivo could be induced to mutate their VHDJH genes in vitro after stimulation. These data indicate that a somatic mutation mechanism remains functional in CLL cells and could play a role in the evolution of the clone.


1978 ◽  
Vol 148 (6) ◽  
pp. 1570-1578 ◽  
Author(s):  
S M Fu ◽  
N Chiorazzi ◽  
H G Kunkel ◽  
J P Halper ◽  
S R Harris

Successful induction of in vitro differentiation and immunoglobulin synthesis of the leukemic lymphocytes was carried out in two cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Few plasma cells and little specific Ig secretion were detected in the cultures of isolated leukemic B cells in either the presence or the absence of autologous T cells. Up to 30% of the leukemic B cells matured to plasma cells, and a 32-fold increase in specific Ig synthesis was observed when T cells from normal individuals were added to the cultures of these leukemic B cells. In one of the two cases, autologous T cells were able to induce greater than 50% of the leukemic B cells to differentiate further to plasma cells in the presence of pokeweed mitogen. This markedly accelerated in vitro differentiation was only achieved with leukemic cells from cases in which there was evidence of slight differentiation in vivo. No evidence could be obtained for excessive suppressor T cells in these patients. However, a T-cell defect in the generation of allogeneic effect helper factors was identified. This defect may be responsible for the reduced rate of leukemic maturation in vivo.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 4709-4709
Author(s):  
Zhifeng Yu ◽  
Baohua Sun ◽  
Hagop M. Kantarjian ◽  
Hesham M. Amin ◽  
Xiaoping Sun

Abstract Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B-cells rapidly undergo apoptosis when cultured in vitro, which contrasts with their prolonged survival in vivo. Multiple cytokines and cytokine receptors are believed to work together to regulate the survival of CLL cells. The literature is conflicting as to whether the CLL cells themselves produce significant amounts of cytokines compared with normal B-cells and how the CLL cells respond to these cytokines. This discrepancy is largely due to the different experimental conditions that have been used whereby various amounts of exogenous cytokines were introduced into the experimental system from, for example, the serum used to supplement the culture medium and the lysate or conditioned medium of CLL cells where other types of mononuclear cells were not removed. The aim of the current study is to reveal the intrinsic production and secretion of cytokines and cytokine receptors in CLL cells when exogenous sources are minimized. We purified CD19+ cells by magnetic beads from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of five CLL patients who had stage I or II disease and had not received any therapy. CD19+ cells from healthy donors were used as control. We used a cytokine antibody array approach that simultaneously measured 174 cytokines and cytokine receptors. We determined both intracellular levels in purified CLL cells and secreted levels in serum-free conditioned medium. The intracellular levels of cytokines and cytokine receptors of the purified CLL cells and the normal B-cells were not significantly different. However, the secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6) was 3.0 times lower (p = 0.038) and that of eotaxin was 2.2 times higher (p = 0.028) in CLL-conditioned medium than in normal B-cell-conditioned medium. We further studied the effect of IL-6 and anti-IL-6 antibody on the apoptosis of purified CLL B-cells in serum-free culture, but no significant change was found in the presence or absence of IL-6 or IL-6 antibody. Except for IL-6 and eotaxin, our results suggest that CLL cells and their normal counterparts produce and secrete similar amounts of cytokines and cytokine receptors in vitro and that the in vivo longevity of CLL cells may be due to the concerted effects of various molecules and cellular interactions in the microenvironment.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 3783-3783
Author(s):  
Regina Razavi ◽  
Iris Gehrke ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Gandhirajan ◽  
Simon Jonas Poll-Wolbeck ◽  
Julian Paesler ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3783 Poster Board III-719 Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by an accumulation of mature, non functional B cells. WNT/β-catenin(CTNNB1)/TCF/Lef-1 signalling appears to be constitutively and aberrantly activated in these cells. Furthermore, several compounds related to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are reported to inhibit β-catenin stability and/or function in WNT active cancers in vitro. However, so far clinical studies with such substances generated disappointing results which is likely to the fact that therapeutic plasma concentrations could not be reached without producing significant toxicities; hence, the required high concentrations limit their clinical use. Recently, nitric oxide-donating acetylsalicylic acid (NO-ASA) has been shown to achieve high plasma levels in doses not leading to any relevant side effects in humans. In addition, NO-ASA could disrupt complexation of β-catenin and TCF-4 in vitro. Because the general structure of NO-ASA enables more variants, the aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of the para- (p-NO-ASA) and meta-isomer (m-NO-ASA) in CLL in vitro and in vivo. Primary CLL cells as well as healthy peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) and healthy B cells were treated with varying concentrations of p- and m-NO-ASA. Cytotoxicity was assessed by microscopic cell viability testing and measurement of the reduction of the ATP content. Induction of apoptosis was investigated by Annexin V-FITC/propidiumiodide staining and immunoblotting of the caspases-9, -3 as well as PARP. Further, the β-catenin protein amount and the expression of WNT effector proteins like cyclin D1 (CCND1), C-MYC and LEF-1 was evaluated by immunoblot analysis. In vivo activity of NO-ASA was evaluated by treating irradiated CD1 nu/nu female mice, containing a JVM-3 cell line xenograft, with 100 mg/kg/day of p- and m-NO-ASA or vehicle control p.o. for 3 weeks continuously. We found a significant concentration dependent reduction of the ATP content in CLL cells after treatment with p-NO-ASA, whereas the meta-isomer showed no effect on CLL cells. While healthy B cells and healthy PBMCs were not significantly affected by any of the isomers the mean lethal concentration (LC50) was 4.64 μM in CLL cells. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining revealed that reduced cell survival occurs in a time and concentration dependent manner and is mediated by apoptosis. Treatment with 10 μM of p-NO-ASA for 24 hours reduced survival to 46.3 ± 10.1%. This effect was achieved as early as 6 hours after treatment. Immunoblot analysis showed that only p-NO-ASA but not m-NO-ASA activates caspases-9, -3 and cleaves PARP at the same concentrations, which lead to induction of cell death. β-catenin protein levels and WNT pathway target genes are down regulated between 1 to 10 μM also only by the para-isomer. In vivo results revealed that exclusively p-NO-ASA show a strong antitumor efficacy with an IRmax value of 83.1%. After 9 days of treatment p-NO-ASA lead to a significantly reduced tumor volume compared to vehicle control (126.4 ± 22.3 mm3 for p-NO-ASA vs. 290.0 ± 65.9 mm3 for the vehicle control, p=0.0303). Tumor volume of vehicle treated controls increased up to 775.4 ± 219.6 mm3 whereas the tumor volume of p-NO-ASA treated group remained stable at 128.7 ± 27.6 mm3 (p=0.0091) over a treatment period of 21 days. The meta-isomer exhibited no significant antineoplastic effect. Our findings show that the para- but not the meta-isomer of NO-ASA selectively induces caspase mediated apoptosis in CLL cells. The mechanism of action might include inhibition of β-catenin/Lef-1 signaling since we observed downregulation of specific target gene expression. Due to our promising in vivo results, discovering a strong inhibition of tumor growth without producing gross side effects, p-NO-ASA might be a valuable compound for the treatment of CLL. More investigations of the mechanism of action and the specific difference between the positional isomers are needed. Disclosures: Hallek: Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 55-55
Author(s):  
Graham Packham ◽  
Serge Krysov ◽  
Christopher Ian Mockridge ◽  
Kathy N Potter ◽  
Freda K Stevenson

Abstract Abstract 55 Several lines of evidence support the idea that surface immunoglobulin M (sIgM) plays a key role in determining the clinical behavior of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). For example, the presence of somatic mutations in immunoglobulin variable region genes is a strong prognostic marker with unmutated CLL (U-CLL) associated with a poor outcome relative to mutated CLL (M-CLL). U-CLL also generally express higher levels of sIgM and retain the ability to signal via this receptor. In this study, we used surface biotinylation to analyse sIgM in CLL and discovered that it exists in two forms with differing mobility on SDS-PAGE. Treatment with glycosidases revealed that these forms were due to different N-glycosylation patterns in the μ constant region. One form is similar to that of normal B cells in bearing mature complex glycans common to most cell surface glycoproteins. The other is an immature mannosylated form more characteristic of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-located μ chains. CLL cells expressed variable proportions of the immature mannosylated form and quantitative analysis demonstrated that, on average, the proportion of mannosylated sIgM was approximately 2-fold higher (p=0.006) in U-CLL compared to M-CLL. Although normal B cells isolated from blood expressed only the mature form of sIgM, in vitro treatment with anti-μ resulted in upregulation of the immature form, suggesting that glycan modification is a consequence of antigen exposure. Consistent with this, in vitro incubation of CLL cells was associated with increased expression of the mature form of sIgM. Phosphotyrosine analysis demonstrated that both forms of sIgM were able to signal following sIgM engagement in vitro. Taken together, these findings support the concept that CLL cells are continuously exposed to antigen in vivo. This process leads to a change in the N-glycosylation pattern of the re-expressed sIgM so that a mannosylated form predominates, especially in U-CLL. Strikingly, expression of mannosylated sIgM is also characteristic of follicular lymphoma, where it is constitutively displayed via N-glycosylation sites in the Ig variable region (Radcliffe et al. J Biol Chem. 2007; 282, 7405-15). Persistent mannosylation of sIgM appears to be a feature common to several B-cell malignancies, suggesting a role in pathogenesis. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document