scholarly journals Reining in BTK: Interdomain Interactions and Their Importance in the Regulatory Control of BTK

Author(s):  
Lauren E. Kueffer ◽  
Raji E. Joseph ◽  
Amy H. Andreotti

Since Dr. Ogden Bruton’s 1952 paper describing the first human primary immunodeficiency disease, the peripheral membrane binding signaling protein, aptly named Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), has been the target of intense study. Dr. Bruton’s description of agammaglobulinemia set the stage for ultimately understanding key signaling steps emanating from the B cell receptor. BTK is a multidomain tyrosine kinase and in the decades since Dr. Bruton’s discovery it has become clear that genetic defects in the regulatory domains or the catalytic domain can lead to immunodeficiency. This finding underscores the intricate regulatory mechanisms within the BTK protein that maintain appropriate levels of signaling both in the resting B cell and during an immune challenge. In recent decades, BTK has become a target for clinical intervention in treating B cell malignancies. The survival reliance of B cell malignancies on B cell receptor signaling has allowed small molecules that target BTK to become essential tools in treating patients with hematological malignancies. The first-in-class Ibrutinib and more selective second-generation inhibitors all target the active site of the multidomain BTK protein. Therapeutic interventions targeting BTK have been successful but are plagued by resistance mutations that render drug treatment ineffective for some patients. This review will examine the molecular mechanisms that drive drug resistance, the long-range conformational effects of active site inhibitors on the BTK regulatory apparatus, and emerging opportunities to allosterically target the BTK kinase to improve therapeutic interventions using combination therapies.

Author(s):  
Donald C. Moore, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, DPLA ◽  
Daniel Thompson, PharmD

The B-cell receptor signaling pathway plays an integral role in the proliferation and survival of malignant B cells. Targeting the B-cell receptor pathway via the inhibition of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) has evolved the treatment of a variety of B-cell malignancies, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma, marginal zone lymphoma, and Waldenström macroglobulinemia. Currently, there are three BTK inhibitors approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, and zanubrutinib. This article reviews the pharmacology, clinical efficacy, safety, dosing, drug-drug interactions, and implications for advanced practitioners of BTK inhibitors in the treatment of B-cell malignancies.


Hematology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (1) ◽  
pp. 553-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Fowler ◽  
Eric Davis

Abstract It is well known that signals emanating from the B-cell receptor (BCR) activate downstream pathways to regulate the development and survival of normal B cells. In B-cell malignancies, it is increasingly understood that similar pathways are activated through both tonic and chronic active BCR signaling to promote tumor viability and resistance to therapy. Recently, several active and oral agents have emerged that target key proximal kinases in the BCR pathway, including Bruton tyrosine kinase, PI3K, and spleen tyrosine kinase. In early clinical studies, these agents have shown significant activity across a broad range of B-cell lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Especially impressive responses have been reported in mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and many patients remain on treatment with continued disease control. Toxicity profiles have been mild in the majority of early studies, without significant myelosuppression over prolonged dosing. Due to these attractive attributes, several agents targeting the BCR pathway are now entering early combination studies with traditional chemotherapeutics and/or other novel agents. It is clear that agents targeting the BCR pathway will significantly affect the design of future therapeutic regimens for B-cell malignancies. Future research will focus on understanding potential mechanisms of resistance, identifying biomarkers of response, and defining optimal combination regimens.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (12) ◽  
pp. 4665-4674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livio Trentin ◽  
Martina Frasson ◽  
Arianna Donella-Deana ◽  
Federica Frezzato ◽  
Mario A. Pagano ◽  
...  

Abstract Lyn, a tyrosine kinase belonging to the Src family, plays a key role as a switch molecule that couples the B-cell receptor to downstream signaling. In B-CLL cells, Lyn is overexpressed, anomalously present in the cytosol, and displays a high constitutive activity, compared with normal B lymphocytes. The aim of this work was to gain insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying these aberrant properties of Lyn, which have already been demonstrated to be related to defective apoptosis in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells. Herein, Lyn is described to be in an active conformation as integral component of an aberrant cytosolic 600-kDa multiprotein complex in B-CLL cells, associated with several proteins, such as Hsp90 through its catalytic domain, and HS1 and SHP-1L through its SH3 domain. In particular, Hsp90 appears tightly bound to cytosolic Lyn (CL), thus stabilizing the aberrant complex and converting individual transient interactions into stable ones. We also demonstrate that treatment of B-CLL cells with geldanamycin, an Hsp90 inhibitor already reported to induce cell death, is capable of dissociating the CL complex in the early phases of apoptosis and thus inactivating CL itself. These data identify the CL complex as a potential target for therapy in B-CLL.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilenia Sana ◽  
Maria Elena Mantione ◽  
Piera Angelillo ◽  
Marta Muzio

In recent years significant progress has been made in the clinical management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as well as other B-cell malignancies; targeting proximal B-cell receptor signaling molecules such as Bruton Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) and Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3Kδ) has emerged as a successful treatment strategy. Unfortunately, a proportion of patients are still not cured with available therapeutic options, thus efforts devoted to studying and identifying new potential druggable targets are warranted. B-cell receptor stimulation triggers a complex cascade of signaling events that eventually drives the activation of downstream transcription factors including Nuclear Factor of Activated T cells (NFAT). In this review, we summarize the literature on the expression and function of NFAT family members in CLL where NFAT is not only overexpressed but also constitutively activated; NFAT controls B-cell anergy and targeting this molecule using specific inhibitors impacts on CLL cell viability. Next, we extend our analysis on other mature B-cell lymphomas where a distinct pattern of expression and activation of NFAT is reported. We discuss the therapeutic potential of strategies aimed at targeting NFAT in B-cell malignancies not overlooking the fact that NFAT may play additional roles regulating the inflammatory microenvironment.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 375-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Talab ◽  
Victoria Thompson ◽  
John C Allen ◽  
Ke Lin ◽  
Joseph R Slupsky

Abstract Abstract 375 B cell receptor (BCR) signaling promotes survival of the malignant clone in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) through its ability to stimulate NFkB pathway signaling. In lymphoid cells, antigen receptor stimulation of this pathway is achieved by engaging the Carma-1 – Bcl10 – MALT1 (CBM) complex for eventual activation of I-kB kinases (IKKs). In B cells, protein kinase C beta (PKCbeta) is an important mediator of CBM complex activation. However, in CLL cells we found that PKCs do not appear to have a role in BCR-mediated NFkB pathway signaling, despite high expression levels of PKCbeta, because the presence of specific inhibitors of this kinase (LY379196 and bisindolylmaleimide-I) has no effect on the induction of IKK phosphorylation during BCR crosslinking. Examination of CBM complex expression suggests an explanation for this phenomenon; the expression levels of Carma-1 and MALT-1 are largely similar in CLL and normal B cells, but the expression of Bcl10 is much reduced in CLL cells. These findings, taken together with the established role of Bcl10 in the pathway of BCR-induced NFkB activation, suggest that CLL cells may employ a different mechanism to activate this pathway during BCR stimulation. Tyrosine kinases are known to play a role in BCR-induced IKK activation in CLL cells because compounds like dasatinib and PP2 inhibit NFkB pathway activation by BCR. One possible tyrosine kinase is c-Abl because we have shown this protein to be overexpressed in CLL cells, where it plays a role in activation of the NFkB pathway. To investigate the role of c-Abl in BCR-induced IKK activation, we used the inhibitor imatinib and found that the presence of this compound partially inhibited IKK phosphorylation in BCR-stimulated CLL cells. However, imatinib can also inhibit Lck, a T cell-specific src-family tyrosine kinase that is expressed by CLL cells. To differentiate between Lck- and c-Abl-mediated BCR signals we used the specific inhibitor 4-amino-5-(4-phenoxyphenyl)-7H-pyrrolo[3,2d] pyrimidin-7-yl-cyclopentane (Lck-i). We found that the presence of this compound in CLL cell cultures undergoing BCR stimulation almost completely inhibited the induction of IKK activation. Investigation of Lck-i specificity revealed this compound did not inhibit either c-Abl or Lyn at the concentration used to inhibit Lck in CLL cell cultures. Further investigation of the effects of Lck-i showed that this compound was also effective in inhibiting BCR-induced activation of the Akt and ERK signaling pathways. Taken together, these data suggest a major role for Lck in BCR-mediated signaling in CLL cells, and question the existing paradigm on the importance of Lyn. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


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