Methylation Profile of B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells.

Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 2951-2951
Author(s):  
Jun Fan ◽  
Asou Norio ◽  
Masao Matsuoka

Abstract DNA methylation plays an important role in the development and aging of mammalian cells, and its dysregulation has been frequently observed in cancer cells. The purpose of this study is to investigate the involvement of aberrant DNA methylation in B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells. We compared methylation status of B-CLL cells isolated from patients with that of normal CD19+ cells isolated from health donors by methylated CpG island amplification/representative difference analysis method. 5 hypermethylated and 27 hypomethylated DNA regions were identified in B-CLL sample. Among the 27 hypomethylated regions, 5 located on chromosome 9q34, 3 on 10q25-26 and 4 on 19q13. Methylation status was confirmed by sequencing using sodium bisulfite-treated DNA samples. By comparing DNA samples from same patients at different clinical stages, we found that lower methylation density in these regions is linked with disease progression. Expression of 15 genes surrounding hypomethylated regions was studied by RT-PCR. Expression of laminin beta3 gene and melanotransferrin gene was found to be upregulated in all B-CLL cell lines as well as lymphoma cell lines comparing with normal CD19+ peripheral blood mononuclear cells. B-cell CLL/lymphoma 11b gene showed increased expression in only 2 B-CLL cell lines. For other genes, no transcriptional change was found regardless of changed DNA methylation. This study showed the predominance of DNA hypomethylation in B-CLL cells compared with hypermethylation. Hypomethylated regions clustered in a limited number of chromosomes and methylation density appeared to be inversely correlated with disease progress. Figure Figure

Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 492-492
Author(s):  
Wei-Gang Tong ◽  
William G. Wierda ◽  
Neby Bekele ◽  
Shao-Qing Kuang ◽  
Michael J. Keating ◽  
...  

Abstract Aberrant DNA methylation of multiple promoter associated CpG islands is a very prevalent phenomenon in human leukemias. Data from our laboratory indicates that methylation profiling allows the identification of leukemia patients with different risk and prognosis. Despite the advances in the understanding of the molecular biology of CLL, few studies of DNA methylation have been performed in CLL. In the current study, we have developed a new assay combining MCA (Methylated CpG island Amplification) with the Agilent promoter CpG array to identify simultaneously hundreds of abnormally methylated CpG islands in CLL. To perform this, we compared DNA from two CLL patients with 17p del (tester) with that of CD19+ B cells from two age-matched controls (driver). We identified 280 promoter CpG islands differentially methylated in CLL compared to normal controls. Most of these genes are located on chromosomes 19 (16%), 16 (11%), 17 (10%) and 11 (9%). We also performed interaction pathway and functional analysis of these 280 genes using the online Ingenuity Pathway Analysis tools. The initial analysis divided these genes into 25 functional networks, with the majority of genes fall into top 10 networks. The major functions of genes in these interaction networks involve cancer, organ development, cell death, drug metabolism, DNA replication and repair. We validated 22 of these genes (ADCY5, R-spondin1, LHX1, GALGT2, TFAP2C, ING1, SOX11, SOX14, SALL1, LTBP2, APP, DXL1, DLX4, KLK10, BCL11B, NR2F2, FAM62T, HAND2, BNC1, SPOCK, Prima1 and MLL1) in samples from 78 CLL patients and 10 age-matched normal controls. The characteristics of the 78 patients are: median age 59 (range 39–79), male 70%, Rai stage 0–II/III–IV (83%/17%), IgVH unmutated 49%, ZAP-70 positive 33%. Our results indicate that most of the genes identified by the array are frequently hypermethylated in CLL patients compared with healthy controls. Methylation frequency ranged from 20%–100% in CLL patients. Expression analysis of four selected genes (LHX1, GALGT2, TFAP2C and Prima1) in human leukemia cell lines and CLL patient samples by real-time PCR further confirmed methylation associated gene silencing, and treatment of these cell lines with hypomethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycitidine with or without the HDAC inhibitor Trichostatin A resulted in gene re-expression and induction of DNA hypomethylation. We also analyzed the association of methylation status of these genes with IgVH mutation status, ZAP70 expression and patient survival. Unmutated IgVH was associated with increased methylation levels of LINE (p<0.0001), which is a marker for global gene methylation and SALL1 (p=0.00008). Expression of ZAP-70 (>20%) was associated with increased methylation levels of LINE (p<0.00001), MLL (p=0.02) and SALL1 (p=0.048). Further analysis showed that methylation status of LINE (p=0.007), SALL1 (p=0.019), ADCY5 (p=0.021), R-spondin1 (p=0.002) and APP (p=0.002) correlated with survival. In conclusion, our studies indicate that MCA/promoter array technique allows the identification of large number of promoter CpG islands aberrantly methylated in CLL and also the identification of novel tumor suppressors and signaling pathways that could be important in the tumorigenesis of CLL and other hematological malignancies.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 119 (7) ◽  
pp. e35-e44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwan-Ki Hwang ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Daniel M. Kozink ◽  
Marietta Gustilo ◽  
Dawn J. Marshall ◽  
...  

Abstract B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is characterized by the clonal expansion of CD5-expressing B lymphocytes that produce mAbs often reactive with microbial or autoantigens. Long-term culture of B-CLL clones would permit the collection and characterization of B-CLL mAbs to study antigen specificity and of B-CLL DNA to investigate molecular mechanisms promoting the disease. However, the derivation of long-term cell lines (eg, by EBV), has not been efficient. We have improved the efficiency of EBV B-CLL transformation of CpG oligonucleotide-stimulated cells by incubating patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence of an irradiated mouse macrophage cell line, J774A.1. Using this approach, peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from 13 of 21 B-CLL patients were transformed as documented by IGHV-D-J sequencing. Four clones grew and retained CD5 expression in culture for 2 to 4 months. However, despite documentation of EBV infection by expression of EBNA2 and LMP1, B-CLL cells died after removal of macrophage feeder cells. Nevertheless, using electrofusion technology, we generated 6 stable hetero-hybridoma cell lines from EBV-transformed B-CLL cells, and these hetero-hybridomas produced immunoglobulin. Thus, we have established enhanced methods of B-CLL culture that will enable broader interrogation of B-CLL cells at the genetic and protein levels.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 3504-3504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Joon Lee ◽  
Jimei Liu ◽  
Ethan Speir ◽  
James Wilson ◽  
Hena Joshi ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3504 Programmed Death-1 (PD-1) is an inhibitory cell surface receptor of the immunoglobulin superfamily expressed on activated lymphocytes, monocytes and dendritic cells. Although PD-1 function is best characterized in T-cells, it is known that PD-1 also suppresses the immune response of B lymphocytes through protein phosphatase recruitment and dephosphorylation of signaling molecules downstream of the B-cell receptor (BCR). Recent studies have found that PD-1 expression is elevated at the mRNA as well as the protein levels in B cells obtained from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients compared to those from healthy controls. Using genome-wide DNA methylation sequencing, we identified PD-1 as one of the significantly hypomethylated genes in CLL compared to normal B-cell samples. Three differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were discovered in the first intron, proximal promoter and up-stream enhancer regions. We validated these DMRs in 43 CLL and 7 normal control samples using bisulfite pyrosequencing. The pyrosequencing analysis further confirmed that all three regions were significantly hypomethylated in CLL patient samples (p<0.001). These epigenetic changes resulted in the overexpression of PD-1 in primary CLL B cells, which was confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR. In B cells isolated from healthy controls, flow cytometry analysis showed that only approximately 1% expressed PD-1, whereas PD-1 positive B cells in CLL patients ranged from 5% to 64%. No correlation between PD-1 status and IGHV mutations or CD38 expression was observed. To elucidate the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation of PD-1 expression, we studied five non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell lines including Mec-1, Granta 519, RL, Raji and DB. Bisulfite pyrosequencing results showed that only the up-stream enhancer is differentially methylated in these cell lines. Treatment of lymphoma cell lines with DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors can up-regulate PD-1 expression in RL, Raji and DB cell lines in which the up-stream enhancer region is hypermethylated; however, the same treatments decreased the PD-1 expression in Mec-1 cells, which are demethylated in the PD-1 enhancer region and express PD-1 on the cell surface. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis revealed that H3K4me3 and H3K4me1 modifications were significantly enriched in the promoter and enhancer regions in PD-1 positive Mec-1 cells, respectively. However, H3K27me3 modification was enriched in both promoter and enhancer regions in PD-1 negative RL cells, while enrichment of H3K3me3 and H3K4me1 modification was significantly decreased. These results suggest that coordinated regulation of enhancer activity by DNA methylation and histone modification is crucial for PD-1 expression in CLL B cells. Furthermore, we mapped the nucleosome occupancy in the enhancer regions using a high-resolution, single-molecule approach. The nucleosome mapping results revealed nucleosome-depleted regions in Mec-1 cells, but not in RL cells. This novel finding demonstrates the complexity of epigenetic regulation of PD-1 expression. To determine the function of PD-1 in CLL, we co-cultured the Mec-1 cell line and primary CLL B-cells with a hepatocyte cell line Huh7.5 that overexpresses exogenous PD-1 ligand, PD-L1. Surprisingly, unlike PD-1 positive normal B cells, we did not observe increased apoptosis in the co-cultured CLL B cells, suggesting that PD-1 has a different functional role in CLL compared to normal B cells. In summary, we present here the novel finding that DNA hypomethylation in the enhancer region of PD-1 leads to aberrant overexpression of PD-1 on CLL B-cell surfaces and that in CLL PD-1 may have a different function than in normal B cells. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (10) ◽  
pp. 3804-3816 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Byrd ◽  
Charlotte Shinn ◽  
Jamie K. Waselenko ◽  
Ephraim J. Fuchs ◽  
Teresa A. Lehman ◽  
...  

Abstract Flavopiridol has been reported to induce apoptosis in lymphoid cell lines via downregulation of bcl-2. The in vitro activity of flavopiridol against human chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells and potential mechanisms of action for inducing cytotoxicity were studied. The in vitro viability of mononuclear cells from CLL patients (n = 11) was reduced by 50% at 4 hours, 24 hours, and 4 days at a flavopiridol concentration of 1.15 μmol/L (95% confidence interval [CI] ±0.31), 0.18 μmol/L (95% CI ±0.04), and 0.16 μmol/L (95% CI ±0.04), respectively. Loss of viability in human CLL cells correlated with early induction of apoptosis. Exposure of CLL cells to 0.18 μmol/L of flavopiridol resulted in both decreased expression of p53 protein and cleavage of the caspase-3 zymogen 32-kD protein with the appearance of its 20-kD subunit. Contrasting observations of others in tumor cell lines, flavopiridol cytotoxicity in CLL cells did not correlate with changes in bcl-2 protein expression alterations. We evaluated flavopiridol’s dependence on intact p53 by exposing splenocytes from wild-type (p53+/+) and p53 null (p53−/−) mice that demonstrated no preferential cytotoxicity as compared with a marked differential with F-ara-a and radiation. Incubation of CLL cells with antiapoptotic cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) did not alter the LC50 of flavopiridol, as compared with a marked elevation noted with F-ara-a in the majority of patients tested. These data demonstrate that flavopiridol has significant in vitro activity against human CLL cells through activation of caspase-3, which appears to occur independently of bcl-2 modulation, the presence of IL-4, or p53 status. Such findings strongly support the early introduction of flavopiridol into clinical trials for patients with B-CLL.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexei J. Stuckel ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Shuai Zeng ◽  
Urszula Dougherty ◽  
...  

In colorectal cancer (CRC), upregulation of the C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is correlated with metastasis and poor prognosis, highlighting the need to further elucidate CXCR4’s regulation in CRC. For the first time, DNA methylation and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine aberrations were investigated to better understand the epigenetic regulation of CXCR4 in CRC. CXCR4 expression levels were measured using qPCR and immunoblotting in normal colon tissues, primary colon cancer tissues and CRC cell lines. Publicly available RNA-seq and methylation data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were extracted from tumors from CRC patients. The DNA methylation status spanning CXCR4 gene was evaluated using combined bisulfite restriction analysis (COBRA). The methylation status in the CXCR4 gene body was analyzed using previously performed nano-hmC-seal data from colon cancers and adjacent normal colonic mucosa. CXCR4 expression levels were significantly increased in tumor stromal cells and in tumor colonocytes, compared to matched cell types from adjacent normal-appearing mucosa. CXCR4 promoter methylation was detected in a minority of colorectal tumors in the TCGA. The CpG island of the CXCR4 promoter showed increased methylation in three of four CRC cell lines. CXCR4 protein expression differences were also notable between microsatellite stable (MSS) and microsatellite instable (MSI) tumor cell lines. While differential methylation was not detected in CXCR4, enrichment of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in CXCR4 gene bodies in CRC was observed compared to adjacent mucosa.


2012 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 1420-1422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Mikeska ◽  
Dennis A. Carney ◽  
John F. Seymour ◽  
Alexander Dobrovic

Blood ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 2707-2715 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Cemerlic ◽  
B Dadey ◽  
T Han ◽  
L Vaickus

Abstract The feasibility of combining the Lym-1 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was evaluated. We used an in vitro tumor lysis model that incorporated fresh CLL cells from 21 different patients as targets for two distinct normal human leukocyte effector subsets, neutrophils, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Lym-1 antigen (Lym-1- Ag) expression varied greatly and did not correlate with the expression of other CLL-associated antigens such as CD5, CD19, or HLA-DR. CLL cells were not lysed by neutrophils alone or with IFN-gamma in the absence of Lym-1. Neutrophil Lym-1-dependent cytotoxicity (ADCC) in the absence of IFN-gamma was weak and inconsistent. IFN-gamma exposure induced MoAb-dependent lysis of 80% of 21 CLL targets and resulted in an eightfold augmentation of neutrophil ADCC against the remainder. Cytotoxicity correlated directly and positively with Lym-1-Ag expression. Confirmation of the need for interaction between neutrophil IgG Fc receptors (Fc gamma Rs) and the Fc portion of the Lym-1 MoAb was obtained by demonstrating that purified Staphylococcus aureus Protein A (SpA) inhibited ADCC. IFN-gamma exposure caused no consistent alternations in Lym-1-Ag expression on CLL cells so that target antigen upregulation was unlikely to account for augmentation of neutrophil ADCC. PBMCs alone, exposed to interkeukin-2 (IL-2) or IFN-gamma, or with Lym-1 in the presence or absence of IL-2 or IFN-gamma were unable to lyse CLL targets. PBMCs were able to kill Raji Burkitt lymphoma cells in conjunction with Lym-1, so their ability to interact with Lym- 1-coated targets and their lytic functions appeared intact. These results emphasize the importance of examining fresh tumor cells with different leukocyte effector subsets before designing a clinical trial that combines a therapeutic MoAb with a cytokine.


Blood ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 1586-1594 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Dono ◽  
S Hashimoto ◽  
F Fais ◽  
V Trejo ◽  
SL Allen ◽  
...  

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from five patients with IgG+ B-type chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) were analyzed for the presence of clone-specific Ig H chain variable region gene mRNA transcripts linked to C mu and/or C alpha. This was assessed by (1) comparing the lengths of portions of the VHDJH of the IgG+ CLL clones with those of the mu and alpha isotype-expressing B cells, (2) performing clone-specific endonuclease digestion studies, and (3) determining the DNA sequences of the mu and alpha isotype-expressing cDNA. Thus, when B-cell mRNA from these five patients were reverse transcribed with C gamma-specific primers and then amplified by polymerase chain reaction, dominant cDNA were found with lengths corresponding to those of the IgG+ CLL B cell. In addition, in four cases, cDNA of lengths identical to those of the CLL B cell were detected when mRNA was reverse transcribed and amplified using c mu- and/or C alpha-specific primers, strongly suggesting clonal relatedness. These CLL-related mu- and alpha- expressing cDNA were present in greater amounts that unrelated (non- CLL) mu- and alpha-expressing cDNA from normal B cells that used genes of the same VH family. When the sequences of these CLL-related C mu- and C alpha-expressing cDNA were compared with those of the IgG+ CLL clones, it was clear that they were derived from the same ancestral gene as the IgG-expressing CLL B cell, thus documenting their common origin. Finally, nucleotide point mutations were observed in the mu- and alpha-expressing cDNA of certain patients, indicating divergence with the CLL. These data suggest that IgM+ B cells, which are precursors of the leukemic B cells, exist in increased numbers in the blood of most patients with IgG+ B-CELL and that these cells may differentiate, accumulate V genes mutations, and undergo isotype switching in vivo. In addition, the data are consistent with a sequential-hit model for the evolution of CLL.


2015 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Grzywnowicz ◽  
Agnieszka Karczmarczyk ◽  
Katarzyna Skorka ◽  
Malgorzata Zajac ◽  
Joanna Zaleska ◽  
...  

Background: The programmed death 1 (PD-1) receptor pathway is responsible for the negative regulation of both T and B lymphocytes upon activation of these cells. There is growing evidence that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells exploit the PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) to resist antitumor immune reactions and maintain their survival by shaping their own microenvironment. Methods: We used a quantitative RT-PCR method to analyze PD-L1 gene expression in bone marrow and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, representing the proliferation and accumulation compartments of CLL. Results: PD-L1 expression was found to be significantly higher in 112 CLL patients than in controls. Levels of PD-L1 expression in bone marrow and peripheral blood were comparable and showed a positive correlation. Furthermore, expression of PD-L1 strongly correlated with expression of PD-1 receptor in mononuclear cells from the same compartment, and was not affected by incubation with immunomodulatory drug thalidomide. Conclusion: PD-L1 expression is shared between CLL cells localized in distinct disease compartments, demonstrating that PD-1/PD-L1 a universal target for therapy.


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