scholarly journals Role of the microRNA-7 (miR-7) in the Inhibition of Chemoresistance and Migration of Lymphoma Non-Hodgkin's through Regulation of YY1 and KLF4

Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 5220-5220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Morales-Martinez ◽  
Gabriel G Vega ◽  
Natividad Neri Munoz ◽  
M. J Nambo ◽  
Isabel Alvarado ◽  
...  

Since the discovery and description of microRNAs (miRs), these molecules have become very important, specifically due to their participation in the regulation of proteins and transcription factors involved in the development of cancer. The microRNA-7 (miR-7) has been described as a negative regulator of several proteins involved in cancer such as YY1 and KLF4 in various cancer subtypes. We have recently reported that YY1 and KLF4 play a role in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) and that the expression of KLF4 is regulated by YY1 (Valencia-Hipolito 2014, Morales-Martinez 2019). Therefore, in this study we analyzed the role of miR-7 in NHL through its effect on the negative regulation of YY1 and KLF4 in vitro, and also assessed its expression in clinical specimens from lymphoma patients. Expression of KLF4, YY1 and miR-7 was analyzed used real-time PCR in NHL-B cell lines (Ramos, Raji, DHL4 and 2F7). The expression of KLF4 and YY1 was inverse correlated with miR-7 expression, where Raji has higher miR-7 expression and DHL4 lower, and this correlated with inverse expression of YY1 and KLF4 in both cell lines, respectively. The possible regulation of YY1 and KLF4 by miR-7 was analyzed by using the inducible expression or inhibition of miR-7, (transfection with pre-miR-7 or mimetic miR-7 respectively) as well using reporter-system plasmids containing the 3 'UTR region of YY1 or KLF4. The role of miR-7 in NHL, through the negative regulation of YY1 and KLF4 was determined by chemoresistance/proliferation, and migration assays. The clinical implications of miR-7 in the negative regulation of YY1 and KLF4, were analyzed by ISH and IHC in a TMA with 43 samples of NHL subtypes: DLBCL and Follicular Lymphoma (FL). Our results showed an inverse correlation of miR-7 expression with KLF4 and YY1 expression in B-NHL cell lines, miR-7 is able to regulate the expression of YY1 and KLF4 by direct binding in the 3 'UTR region. Thus, the induced expression of miR-7 inhibited the constitutive expression of YY1 / KLF4, whereas the inhibition of miR-7 correlated with an increase in the expression of YY1 / KLF4. Likewise, the induced expression of miR-7 reverses the chemo resistance and inhibits the migration capacity of NHL-B cell lines. Also, all tumor tissues expressing miR-7 demonstrated a negative correlation with YY1 and KLF4 expression, which was more significant in the FL. Additionally the expression of miR-7 in FL was associated with clinical outcome. Our results show for the first time that miR-7 has a role in NHL through the negative regulation of YY1 and KLF4. These results confirm YY1 and KLF4 as possible therapeutic targets through the regulation of miR-7. References: -Valencia-Hipόlito A, et al Expression of KLF4 is a predictive marker for survival in pediatric Burkitt lymphoma. Leuk Lymphoma. 2014;55(8):1806-14 -Morales-Martinez M, Valencia-Hipolito A, Vega GG, Neri N, Nambo MJ, Alvarado I, Cuadra I, Duran-Padilla MA, Martinez-Maza O, Huerta-Yepez S, Vega MI. Regulation of Krüppel-Like Factor 4 (KLF4) expression through the transcription factor Yin-Yang 1 (YY1) in non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma. Oncotarget. 2019;10(22):2173-2188. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burcu Emine Celik-Selvi ◽  
Astrid Stütz ◽  
Christoph-Erik Mayer ◽  
Jihen Salhi ◽  
Gerald Siegwart ◽  
...  

Dysregulation of receptor tyrosine kinase-induced pathways is a critical step driving the oncogenic potential of brain cancer. In this study, we investigated the role of two members of the Sprouty (Spry) family in brain cancer-derived cell lines. Using immunoblot analyses we found essential differences in the pattern of endogenous Spry3 and Spry4 expression. While Spry4 expression was mitogen-dependent and repressed in a number of cells from higher malignant brain cancers, Spry3 levels neither fluctuated in response to serum withdrawal nor were repressed in glioblastoma (GBM)-derived cell lines. In accordance to the well-known inhibitory role of Spry proteins in fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-mediated signaling, both Spry proteins were able to interfere with FGF-induced activation of the MAPK pathway although to a different extent. In response to serum solely, Spry4 exerts its role as a negative regulator of MAPK activation. Ectopic expression of Spry4 inhibited proliferation and migration of GBM-originated cells, positioning it as a tumor suppressor in brain cancer. In contrast, elevated Spry3 levels accelerated both proliferation and migration of these cell lines, while repression of Spry3 levels using shRNA caused a significant diminished growth and migration velocity rate of a GBM-derived cell line. This argues for a tumor-promoting function of Spry3 in GBMs. Based on these data we conclude that Spry3 and Spry4 fulfill different if not opposing roles within the cancerogenesis of brain malignancies.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 3099-3099
Author(s):  
Lina Odqvist ◽  
Margarita Sánchez-Beato ◽  
Santiago Montes-Moreno ◽  
Ken H Young ◽  
Francesco Acquadro ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3099 Deregulated NF-κB activity plays a role in the lymphoma pathogenesis, and has been proposed to constitute a cardinal feature of some subtypes of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The NF-κB-Inducing Kinase (NIK) is essential for the activation of the alternative NF-κB pathway by inducing the phosphorylation of the NF-κB member p100, which leads to its processing to p52 and its subsequent nuclear translocation. A role for NIK in the classical NF-κB pathway as well has been shown, suggesting NIK as an attractive therapeutic target in lymphomas. Here, we study the frequency and extent of alternative and classical NF-κB activation in diffuse large B cell lymphoma, and the implication of NIK in both pathways. The activation of the classical and alternative NF-κB pathways was present in 28 and 34% of DLBCL cases respectively, as assessed by nuclear expression of p50 (classical pathway) and p52 (alternative pathway) by immunohistochemistry in a series of 301 samples. Activation of both NF-κB pathways was observed in germinal centre B-cell like (GC) and activated B-cell like (ABC) subtypes, with a slight predominance, although not significant, in ABC subtype. In contrast, the levels of p52 and p50 were significantly higher in ABC-DLBCL cell lines than those of GC subtype. The activation of both pathways was mostly overlapped and there was a strong positive correlation between nuclear p52 and p50 (p<0.001). Eighteen % of the cases expressed both p50 and p52 while only 8 and 16% expressed exclusively p50 or p52, respectively. Activation of the alternative NF-κB pathway was strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), since 93% of EBV+ cases expressed nuclear p52 (p<0.001). In our study, no TRAF3 deletions were detected in a panel of 25 DLBCL samples, although absence of TRAF3 was observed in one DLBCL cell line. Since NIK acts as a bottleneck in the activation of the alternative pathway but has also been described to play a role in the classical pathway, we wanted to analyze the effect of the knockdown of NIK on both pathways. Using small interference RNA in two lymphoma cell lines, we observed that the silencing of NIK had an effect on both pathways, decreasing the processing of p100 as well as p105. Taken together, our results show that the activation of NF-κB distinguishes a subset of DLBCL cases, comprising both ABC and GC subtypes, suggest a frequent overlap between the classical and alternative NF-κB pathway in DLBCL, and identify a possible role for NIK in the activation of both pathways. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 2417-2417
Author(s):  
Olga Ritz ◽  
Jochen K Lennerz ◽  
Karolin Rommel ◽  
Karola Dorsch ◽  
Elena Kelsch ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 2417 Primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBL) is a subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) that affects predominantly young women (Swerdlow et al. 2008). Despite improvements due to addition of rituximab, which has become state of the art treatment, 20% of PMBL patients succumb to disease progression or relapse. Notably, here are currently no registered trials that are actively recruiting PMBL-patients and a better understanding of the underlying pathobiology may identify novel therapeutic targets and provide an alternative to dose escalation (Steidl and Gascoyne 2011). BCL6 is a key germinal center B-cell transcription factor that suppresses genes involved in lymphocyte activation, differentiation, cell cycle arrest and DNA damage response gene. BCL6 is aberrantly expressed in certain DLBCL subgroups and BCL6 overexpression is sufficient for lymphomagenesis in mice (Cattoretti et al. 2005). In cellular- and murine DLBCL models, targeting of BCL6 via retroinverted BCL6 peptid inhibitor (RI-BPI) appears effective (Polo et al. 2004; Cerchietti et al. 2010). In conjunction with the relatively restricted expression pattern of BCL6, these data collectively suggest BCL6 as a candidate for targeted therapy in BCL6-positive lymphomas. Despite substantial work on BCL6 in lymphomas, the function of BCL6 in PMBL is unknown. To address the BCL6 function in PMBL, we performed BCL6 depletion by siRNA in all three available PMBL cell lines: K1106, U-2940 and MedB-1. We found that BCL6 acts pro-proliferative and anti-apoptotic; however, PMBL models were only partially dependent on and not addicted to BCL6. Given that BCL6 expression in all PMBL cell lines is variable with a notable fraction of BCL6-negative cells, we argued that increasing the fraction of BCL6-positive cells might increase the level of BCL6-dependence. Since IL-4/STAT6 signaling upregulates BCL6 in mouse lymphocytes (Schroder et al. 2002), we treated PMBL cell lines with IL-4 (or IL-13) and, as expected, observed increased phosphorylated (p)STAT6 levels. Surprisingly, the pSTAT6 increase was not associated with higher – but with drastically lower BCL6 protein levels. Moreover, in untreated cells, co-localization studies for pSTAT6- and BCL6 demonstrated staining in mutually exclusive subsets of cells (Figure 1A), suggesting negative interaction between BCL6 and pSTAT6. Other STAT family members were already shown to participate in the transcriptional regulation of BCL6. Thus, we examined binding of STAT6 to the proximal promoter of BCL6 in all PMBL cell lines using shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation. We found that STAT6 can bind all five GAS binding sites within the BCL6 promoter in vitro and in all PMBL cell lines STAT6 was bound to proximal BCL6 promoter in vivo. Furthermore, transient STAT6 depletion by siRNA and/or ectopic expression of constitutively active STAT6 confirms that pSTAT6 is sufficient for transcriptional repression of BCL6. Co-localization studies in primary patient samples demonstrated mutually exclusive BCL6/pSTAT6 distribution as a visual hallmark of the repression mechanism (Figure 1B, C). Thus, our data demonstrate for the first time that constitutively active STAT6 transcriptionally represses BCL6 in PMBL. In conjunction with functional data, the delineated repression mechanism may prevent addiction to one single oncogenic pathway (i.e. BCL6) in PMBL. Figure 1. Mutually exclusive distribution of BCL6 and pSTAT6 in PMBL Figure 1. Mutually exclusive distribution of BCL6 and pSTAT6 in PMBL Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 122 (21) ◽  
pp. 3021-3021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjoern Chapuy ◽  
McKeown Michael ◽  
Charles Y. Lin ◽  
Stefano Monti ◽  
Margaretha GM Roemer ◽  
...  

Abstract Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) exhibits significant biological and transcriptional heterogeneity which is conferred, in part, by pathologic modulation of lineage-specific and growth-associated master regulatory transcription factors (TF). Chromatin associated with TF binding sites is markedly enriched in histone proteins that are post-translationally modified by lysine side-chain acetylation. This mark facilitates the opening of chromatin and recruits a class of co-activators which recognize ε-acetyl lysine through a bromodomain. The sub-family of bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) co-activators (BRD2, BRD3 and BRD4) are appealing, in part, because transgenic expression of BRD2 caused a DLBCL-like neoplasm in mice. We recently developed the first BET inhibitor, JQ1, and now explore the role of BET bromodomains in oncogenic transcription and assess BET family members as therapeutic targets in DLBCL. Nanomolar doses of JQ1 and 3 structurally dissimilar BET bromodomain inhibitors decreased the cellular proliferation of a broad panel of DLBCL cell lines of all transcriptionally defined types whereas the inactive enantiomer, JQ1R, had no effect. BRD2 and BRD4 depletion similarly decreased the proliferation of multiple DLBCL cell lines. We next explored the therapeutic potential of BET inhibition in two independent DLBCL xenotransplantation models, Ly1 and Toledo. In the first xenograft model, JQ1-treated mice had a prolongation of overall survival (p = 0.003). In the second model, JQ1-treated animals had significantly delayed tumor progression and decreased lymphomatous infiltration of spleen and bone marrow. To define the transcriptional pathways regulated by BET bromodomain proteins, we performed transcriptional profiling of multiple vehicle and JQ1-treated DLBCL cell lines. Following JQ1 treatment, we observed downregulation of multiple MYD88/TLR and BCR signaling pathway components and functionally validated MYC and E2F target gene sets. BET inhibition decreased MYC transcripts and protein in the DLBCL cell line panel suggesting that BET bromodomains directly modulate MYC transcription. In contrast, JQ1 treatment did not measurably alter E2F1 transcript or protein abundance suggesting a co-activator role of the BET bromodomains for E2F1. To explore the role of BET bromodomains in oncogenic E2F1 transcriptional signaling, we performed ChIPSeq experiments in Ly1 cells, using a chemical genetic approach. Rank-ordering of all transcriptionally active promoters based on H3K4me3 enrichment and RNA Pol II occupancy identifies pervasive binding and spatial colocalization of BRD4 and E2F1 to active promoter elements. We identified a JQ1-mediated transcriptional elongation defect across E2F1-bound promoters, responsible for the downregulation of E2F1 targets. As oncogenic TFs may signal to RNA Pol II through distal enhancer elements, we also characterized the genome-wide localization of BRD4 to enhancers in the Ly1 DLBCL cell line. Rank-ordering of enhancer regions by H3K27ac enrichment reveals that BRD4 binds to the vast majority of active enhancers in the Ly1 genome. Strikingly, the BRD4 load is asymmetrically distributed throughout the genome at enhancer sites with only a small subset of BRD-loaded “super enhancers (SE)”, 285/18330 (1.6%), accounting for 32% of all BRD4 enhancer binding in the cell. The POU2AF1 locus emerged as the most BRD4-overloaded enhancer in Ly1. BET inhibition reduced RNA Pol II elongation of POU2AF1, with a concomitant increase in promoter-paused RNA Pol II near the transcriptional start site. Accordingly, JQ1 treatment decreased POU2AF1 transcript abundance and protein expression and reduced the expression of a POU2AF1 target gene set. POU2AF1 depletion with independent shRNAs significantly decreased the proliferation of Ly1 and enforced POU2AF1 expression decreased the sensitivity of Ly1 cells to JQ1 treatment. Additional super enhancer-driven genes that were sensitive to JQ1 treatment include ones which promote and maintain the B-cell gene expression program and limit plasma cell differentiation. Our data suggest that BET inhibition limits the growth of DLBCLs by at least two complementary activities: a specific effect on genes that define a given cell type by high BRD4 loading at enhancers and the selective suppression of transcription at E2F- and MYC- driven target genes. + Contributed equally Disclosures: Qi: Patent for JQ1: holds patent for JQ1, holds patent for JQ1 Patents & Royalties. Young:Syros Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Enzon Pharmaceuticals: Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity’s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Bradner:Tensha Therapeutics: Equity Ownership, Scientific founder of Tensha which is translating drug-like derivatives of the JQ1 chemical probe of BET bromodomains used in this study, as cancer therpeutics. As such, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Dr. Bradner have been granted minority equity. Other; Syros Pharmaceuticals: Equity Ownership, Scientific founder of Syros which is discovering Super Enhancers as a new class of gene control elements. As such, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Dr. Bradner have been granted minority equity., Scientific founder of Syros which is discovering Super Enhancers as a new class of gene control elements. As such, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Dr. Bradner have been granted minority equity. Other.


Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 122 (21) ◽  
pp. 3805-3805
Author(s):  
Jorge Contreras ◽  
Jayanth Kumar Palanichamy ◽  
Tiffany Tran ◽  
Dinesh S. Rao

Abstract Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is one of the most common Non-Hodgkin lymphomas among adults. It is a heterogeneous disease characterized by multiple mutations and translocations. Gene expression profiling studies have revealed several characteristic gene expression patterns, with two main patterns emerging, namely Germinal Center(GC) type, and Activated B Cell (ABC) type. ABC-type DLBCL shows gene expression patterns that resemble activated B-cells, with increased expression of anti-apoptotic, and pro-proliferative genes. Critically, upregulation of the NF-κB the pathway is a hallmark of ABC-type DLBCL and has been shown to be necessary for survival, and is caused by several different mutations at different levels within the pathway. Recent work has revealed the critical importance of a new class of small RNA molecules, namely microRNAs, in gene regulation. Of these, microRNA-146a (miR-146a) was discovered as an NF-κB induced microRNA that plays a role as a negative feedback regulator of this pathway by targeting adaptor proteins. To further characterize miR-146a, mice deficient for this miRNA were created, and were found to develop lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and myeloid proliferation. As expected, immune cells in these mice have an upregulated NF-κB pathway and many of the phenotypes can be ameliorated by inhibition of the NF-κB pathway. Importantly, a significant proportion of the animals develop B-cell lymphoma at older ages. In this study, we examined the role of miR-146a in the development of malignancy in B-cells. To accelerate the role of miR-146a in tumor formation we overlaid the miR-146a deficient allele onto the Eμ-Myc like mouse model. Eμ-Myc mice develop tumors on average by 14weeks of age. The transgenic status of animals was verified by genotyping, RNA and protein expression analyses. miR-146a sufficient and deficient animals on the Eμ-Myc background were followed for tumor latency by peripheral blood analysis and careful physical examination. Based on approved humane criteria for animal discomfort, animals were sacrificed and hematopoietic tissue was harvested for analysis. Mice deficient for miR-146a had a statistically reduced survival in comparison with miR-146a sufficient animals with a p-value of .0098 (Kaplan Meir survival analysis). Complete Blood Count of animals at time of death revealed an increase leukemia presentation in the miR-146a deficient background. FACS analysis of tumor tissue from both groups revealed an increase in the number of IgM positive tumors in the miR-146a-deficient background indicating skewing towards more mature B cell neoplasms when miR-146a is lacking. Lineage analysis of tumors verified them to be of B cell origin although a subset of miR-146a sufficient tumors had higher numbers of infiltrating myeloid cells compared to deficient animals. Furthermore, histologic analysis of hematopoietic organs showed that while infiltration remained similar in kidneys and liver, more spleens in the miR-146a deficient background tended to be less involved. Our extensive histopathologic and immunophenotypic analyses indicate that miR-146a deficiency drives a more aggressive malignant phenotype in the B-cell lineage. In keeping with this, our profiling studies of human DLBCL suggest that a subset of DLBCL show decreased expression of miR-146a. We are currently examining the status of NF-κB in the murine tumors and using high throughput sequencing approaches to delineate gene expression differences between miR-146a sufficient and deficient tumors. We anticipate the discovery of novel gene targets of miR-146a and expect that these studies will lead to improved diagnostic and therapeutic options for patients of B-cell malignancies. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 4810-4810
Author(s):  
Xinyu Li ◽  
Lingyu Geng ◽  
Xiangxiang Zhou ◽  
Kang Lu ◽  
Peipei Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is aberrantly activated in B cell lymphomas, unphosphorylated beta-catenin accumulates and translocates into the nucleus, regulates the expression of c-myc, cyclinD1 and many other target genes which govern fundamental cell functions, such as proliferation, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. Methylation is a highlight of epigenetic regulation research which also occurred in lymphoma, but the concrete mechanism of how the demethylation drug 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine affect Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is still unknown. This study was designed to illuminate the implications on Wnt/beta-catenin pathway via demethylation 5-aza in B cell lymphoma. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from samples of 30 primary CLL patients. The PBMCs contained more than 90% of CD19+ B lymphocytes, which were detected by flow cytometry and were referred to as primary CLL cells. The activation of Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and DNMT-1 of B cell lymphoma cells lines (MEC-1, LY8, Jeko-1, Grant519, mino and sp53) and the 30 patients were detected by qPCR and western blot. The expressions of beta-catenin in 20 cases of B cell lymphoma tissues were measured by IHC. The B cell lines and PBMCs from 10 primary CLL patients were given 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine in different concentrations, the effects in the pathway and apoptosis were observed by WB and flow cytometry. Results: The expressions of beta-catenin, c-myc, cyclinD1 and DNMT-1 were aberrantly higher in all cell lines we used ( MEC-1,LY8, Jeko-1, Grant519, mino and sp53 Fig.1-A,B), most primary CLL patients (Fig.1-C), and B cell lymphoma tissues (Fig.1-D). The protein expressions of beta-catenin in MEC-1 were higer than primary CLL patients. 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0¦ÌM 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine were given to the B cells lines and PBMCs from primary CLL patients for 48h, beta-catenin were found accumulated, but c-myc and cyclinD1 in the downstream were reduced (Fig.2-A,B,C,D). For further understanding of aberrant accumulation ofbeta-catenin, we extracted the nuclear protein of MEC-1, nuclear beta-catenin protein expressions were found decreased and cytoplasmic were increased (Fig.2-E). After 5-aza treatment, the apoptosis rate increased and caspase pathway were activated (Fig.2-A,F). Conclusions: The enhanced expressions of beta-catenin, c-myc, cyclinD1 in the B cell lines and the B cell lymphoma samples indicated the Wnt/beta-catenin was aberrantly activated. After 5-aza treatment with the cell lines (MEC-1, Jeko-1, LY8) and primary CLL cells, the abnormal accumulation of beta-catenin protein was observed which was discrepancy with previous reports, but the decrease of c-myc and cyclinD1 suggested the pathway was inhibited, apoptosis also occurred. The increase of totalbeta-catenin protein was supposed to be an stress reaction of the 5-aza treatment, however, the redundant beta-catenin protein in B cell lymphoma was speculated to be combined with demethylated genes and resulted in dormancy of this pathway. Our results indicated that 5-aza played a demethylation role through Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in B cell lymphoma. The data are of interest in the context of epigenetic-based therapy in B cell lymphoma. Figure 1. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 2. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 2938-2938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Cooney ◽  
Long Wang ◽  
An-Ping Lin ◽  
Daifeng Jiang ◽  
Avvaru Suhasini ◽  
...  

Abstract Aberrant activation of the B cell receptor (BCR) is a hallmark of mature B-cell tumors. A better understanding of this process will spearhead effective clinical translation. The initiation and amplification of BCR signaling are well-defined events, and the successful deployment of BTK and PI3Kδ inhibitors in the clinic capitalizes on this knowledge. Conversely, the intricacies of the termination of BCR signals are less well-understood, and to date no rational therapeutic approach has been developed that exploit this aspect of the oncogenic BCR. Cyclic-AMP (cAMP) is a second messenger with marked growth suppression properties towards immune cells, including neoplastic mature B lymphocytes. In earlier work, we showed that inhibition of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), the enzyme that hydrolyzes cAMP, downmodulates the activity of classical effectors of BCR signals, including SYK and PI3K. Herein, we attempted to gain further mechanistic understanding on how cAMP suppresses the proximal BCR activity, and built on this information to pre-clinically test therapeutic strategies that simultaneously attack the BCR at its amplification and termination points. Using diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) as a model, we focused our attention on the interplay between cAMP and LCK, as we unexpectedly found that this cAMP-regulated canonical T-cell kinase is also widely expressed in DLBCL. Working with LCK-positive PDE4-low/null DLBCL cell lines, we found a marked increase in the phosphorylation of the inhibitory Y505 of LCK following elevation of intra-cellular cAMP. Next, we showed that ectopic expression of wild-type (WT) PDE4B, but not of a phosphodiesterase-inactive (PI) mutant, abrogated the cAMP-mediated, CSK-dependent, phosphorylation of LCK. Active LCK can phosphorylate PI3K's p85 regulatory subunit, thus freeing the catalytic domain from its structural constraints to promote lipid kinase activity. Thus, we tested whether the cAMP-mediated inhibition of LCK, by suppressing p85 phosphorylation, down-modulated PI3K activity. In LCK-positive PDE4B-null DLBCL, we showed that cAMP readily decreased the phosphorylation of p85 that followed BCR engagement; using the WT and PI PDE4B genetic models, we demonstrated that PDE4B expression abrogated cAMP effects and led to sustained PI3K activity following BCR engagement. These data suggested that inhibition of PDE4, by unleashing the negative effects of cAMP on LCK/p85, could accelerate the termination of PI3K activation that follows BCR engagement. If this hypothesis was correct, then the combination of PI3K and PDE4 inhibitors by attacking the BCR at its amplification and termination points, respectively, may synergistically suppress the growth of DLBCL. In in vitro studies with multiple DLBCL cell lines (WSU-NHL, OCI-Ly7, OCI-Ly18, OCI-Ly3, HBL-1, and OCI-Ly10) we showed that the combination of the FDA-approved PDE4 inhibitor roflumilast with idelalisib synergistically suppresses DLBCL growth (combination index < 1). This synergism was associated with a significant suppression of PI3K and AKT activities (p<0.05, cells treated with the drug combination vs. single agents). We expanded this observation to an in vivo xenograft model of human DLBCL, and showed that mice treated with roflumilast and idelalisib had a significantly smaller tumor burden than those receiving single agents (p< 0.01, two cohorts, n=47 mice). We also found a greater suppression of PI3K activity in the xenografts from mice treated with the combination of PDE4 and PI3Kδ inhibitors (p< 0.0001), as well as increased apoptosis. Together, these data further delineated how cAMP suppresses the BCR and showed that the rational combination PDE4 and PI3Kδ inhibitors synergistically suppresses DLBCL growth. These results are particularly important given the recent evidence of inflammatory/immune toxicity associated with the use of idelalisib, which we propose could be countered by the well-established anti-inflammatory properties of PDE4 inhibitors. Thus, we hypothesize that combining PDE4 and PI3Kδ inhibitors will enhance anti-lymphoma activity while decreasing clinical toxicity. This concept is ripe for clinical testing as we have recently completed a phase Ib trial showing that roflumilast is safe and active in patients with advanced B cell malignancies. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 5300-5300
Author(s):  
Hilmar Quentmeier ◽  
Claudia Pommerenke ◽  
Wilhelm G Dirks ◽  
Vivien Hauer ◽  
Max Koeppel ◽  
...  

Abstract Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a rare, aggressive form of B-cell lymphoma. With a median survival time of around six months the prognosis for PEL patients is poor. Therefore, there is a medical need for novel therapeutic strategies. We performed expression array analysis to find potential targets for antibody-based therapy. Unsupervised clustering analysis revealed that PEL cell lines grouped separate from cell lines derived from other B-non Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) entities. Notably, PEL and Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) cell lines clustered on one arm, separate from all cell lines representing less-differentiated B-NHL variants. PEL and HL cell lines were characterized by a set of common up- and downregulated genes. Typical for PEL and HL was the expression of CCND2 and the absence of Brutons tyrosine kinase and of B-cell markers including CD19, CD20, CD79A and CD79B. Highly expressed in PEL - but not in HL - were CD138, IL-10, SLAMF7 and PRDM1. PRDM1/BLIMP1 is a master regulator of terminal B-cell differentiation. Originally described as repressor, BLIMP1 can also enhance transcription of SLAMF7 in multiple myeloma (MM) and of IL-10 in type 1 regulatory T-cells. Thus, coexpression of the three genes suggests a causal relationship between transcriptionally active PRDM1/BLIMP1 and its targets SLAMF7 and IL-10 also in PEL. Expression of SLAMF7 in PEL is especially noteworthy because a monoclonal antibody targeting SLAMF7 (elotuzumab) has been approved for treatment of patients with MM. We observed that SLAMF7 is comparably expressed in PEL and in MM cell lines. If the results on cell lines can be translated to primary PEL, i.e. if PEL tumor cells express SLAMF7, the patients might benefit from an antibody-based targeted therapy against this antigen. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (21) ◽  
pp. 5180-5180
Author(s):  
Keren B Turton ◽  
Deane F. Mosher ◽  
Lixin Rui ◽  
Stephane Esnault ◽  
Douglas S Annis

Abstract Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a key mediator of lymphocyte differentiation and proliferation. Germline mutations of STAT3 are associated with hyper-IgE syndrome, recurring STAT3 somatic mutations are associated with some lymphoid malignancies, and dysregulation of STAT3’s expression and activation contributes to the phenotype of Activated B-cell Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL). In mice, expression of α and β splice variants (both well-described) is required for normal immune function. The two variants have distinct but overlapping functions, with α being more closely correlated to oncogenesis. Compared to α, the β variant lacks the C-terminal transactivation domain including serine-727, which is phosphorylated upon activation. A second differential splicing event results in serine-701 being included (S) or excluded (ΔS) (Schaefer et al. 1995 PNAS92:9097; Hiller et al. 2006 Genome Biol. 7:R65). Interrogation of Illumina’s publicly available RNA-Seq data showed that S and ΔS variants exist in all human tissues, albeit at varying ratios. The S/ΔS splice site is conserved in mice and several other mammalian species tested. While the presence or absence of a single residue may seem inconsequential, serine-701 is in the linker that allows activated STAT3 to dimerize and is in close proximity to tyrosine-705, the phosphorylation of which is required for STAT3 activation. In addition, there is mass spectrometric evidence that serine-701 can be phosphorylated along with tyrosine-705 (Stokes et al.,2012Mol. Cell. Proteomics11(5):187). Our goals were to learn if the ɑ/β and S/ΔS splicing events are mutually exclusive of one another or occur randomly such that four transcripts are generated--ɑS, ɑΔS, βS, and βΔS--and to develop quantitative(q) PCR protocols in order to compare the ratio of the transcripts in ABC-DLBCL to the ratio in Germinal Center B-cell (GCB)-DLBCL in which STAT3 is not dysregulated. PCR products generated using 3ˈ-primers specific for ɑ and β variants and a common 5ˈ-primer both yielded sequences that included or lacked the codon for serine-701. These products were cloned, and the clones used to validate and standardize qPCR assays for the four variants. Ratios of the variants were not strikingly different between cDNAs of 6 ABC-DLBCL and 2 GCB-DLBCL cell lines. Thus, the percentages (mean±SD) of ɑS, ɑΔS, βS, and βΔS were, respectively, 72±6%, 10±2%, 16±7% and 2.0±0.2% for ABC cells and 76±2%, 7.6±0.1%, 14±2%, and 2.0±0.6% for GCB cells. A small bias in splicing was observed: the percentage of β variants that were ΔS (13.9±3.1%) was greater than of α variants (11.5±1.9%) (p<0.05 for the 8 cell lines). These data demonstrate that two splicing events generate four isoforms of STAT3 with different potentials to undergo activating and modulating phosphorylations. Further experiments are required to determine if having all four splice variants is required for full STAT3 function and whether disease-associated mutations in STAT3 specifically impact function of one of the variants. The results will help guide isoform-specific interrogation of the multi-faceted role of STAT3 in lymphoma. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 2924-2924
Author(s):  
Xiangxiang Zhou ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Xinyu Li ◽  
Lingyun Geng ◽  
Ya Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: Klotho is an anti-aging gene with an extracellular domain. Mice with Klotho knockout exhibited obvious impairment in B-cell development. Evolving evidence indicates that Klotho modulates the proliferation and survival via targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) in several cancers. However, the expression and biological role of Klotho in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) has not been elucidated to date. We hypothesized that Klotho could modulate the tumor growth and predicts prognosis in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) through inhibiting IGF-1R activation. The aim of this study is to characterize the functional significance of Klotho and the therapeutic potential of its secreted form in DLBCL. Methods: Lymph nodes samples from 50 de novo DLBCL and 20 reactive hyperplasia cases were collected with informed consents. Klotho expression were assessed by Immunohistochemistry. CD19+ B-cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated with informed consents from healthy donors. Expression levels of Klotho mRNA and protein in DLBCL cells were determined by quantitative RT-PCR and western blotting. Lentivirus vectors either encoding Klotho (LV-KL) or empty lentiviral vector (LV-Con) were stably transfected into DLBCL cells. Cell viability and apoptosis were analyzed by cell counting kit-8 and Annexin V-PE/7AAD staining. Animal experiments were performed in accordance with the principles of the Institutional Animal Care. SCID-Beige mice were subcutaneously injected with DLBCL cells to establish xenograft model. Results: We observed markedly decreased level of Klotho protein in DLBCL lymph nodes (Fig. 1A). Expression of Klotho protein exhibited significantly negative correlation with Ann Arbor stage of DLBCL patients (p=0.002). Level of Klotho protein was negatively correlates with the media overall survival (OS), suggesting lower Klotho expression is associated with poor OS in DLBCL ((Fig. 1B, p=0.045). Reduction of Klotho was also confirmed in DLBCL cell lines at mRNA and protein level (Fig. 1C). We next functionally interrogated the role of Klotho in DLBCL cell lines and xenograft models. Stably expression of LV-KL in DLBCL cell lines resulted in dramatically decreased cell proliferation and incremental apoptotic rates when compared to LV-Con (Fig. 2A and B). We validated the changed expression of critical targets known to govern apoptosis in DLBCL cells transfected with LV-KL. Xenograft models with Klotho overexpression revealed significantly abrogated tumor growth compared to control group (Fig. 2C). Interestingly, lower levels of Ki67 were observed in mice treated with LV-KL (Fig. 2D). These results highlighted the proliferation-inhibitory and apoptosis-inductive activities of Klotho in DLBCL cells. The underlying mechanism driving the tumor suppressive potential of Klotho was investigated. Surprisingly, we observed that the Klotho-induced inhibition of cell viability was only fewer restored by IGF-1 in DLBCL cells transfected with LV-KL (Fig. 3A). Reductive phosphorylation of IGF-1R and its downstream targets (AKT and ERK1/2) were observed in DLBCL cells with Klotho overexpression (Fig. 3B). In addition, we evaluated the regulation of Klotho on IGF-1R signaling in vivo. Decreased phosphrolation of IGF-1R as well as its downstream targets were observed in mice treated with LV-KL compared to the control group (Fig. 3C). Lastly, we explored the activity of secreted Klotho protein (rhKL). The rhKL was found to be active in vitro and significantly reduced the viabilities of DLBCL cells (Fig. 3D). Moreover, combination with rhKL increased the sensitivity of DLBCL cells to adriamycin. The in vivo activity of rhKL in DLBCL xenograft model was also detected. Significantly decreased tumor volumes were noted in mice treated with rhKL compared with those treated with vehicle control (Fig. 3E). Moreover, reductive expression level of Ki67 was observed in rhKL-treated group (Fig. 3F). Conclusions: Our observations identified for the first time that loss of Klotho expression contributed to the development and poor prognosis via activating IGF-1R in DLBCL. Given the in vivo tumor suppressive activity of secreted Klotho protein, it may serve as a potential strategy for the development of novel therapeutic interventions for DLBCL. Figure 1 Figure 1. Figure 2 Figure 2. Figure 3 Figure 3. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


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