Hedgehog-induced survival of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells in a stromal cell microenvironment: a potential new therapeutic target.
Mol Cancer Res
; 6(12): 1928-36, 2008 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-19074837
ABSTRACT
B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is characterized by an accumulation of neoplastic B cells due to their resistance to apoptosis and increased survival. Among various factors, the tumor microenvironment is known to play a role in the regulation of cell proliferation and survival of many cancers. However, it remains unclear how the tumor microenvironment contributes to the increased survival of B-CLL cells. Therefore, we studied the influence of bone marrow stromal cell-induced hedgehog (Hh) signaling on the survival of B-CLL cells. Our results show that a Hh signaling inhibitor, cyclopamine, inhibits bone marrow stromal cell-induced survival of B-CLL cells, suggesting a role for Hh signaling in the survival of B-CLL cells. Furthermore, gene expression profiling of primary B-CLL cells (n = 48) indicates that the expression of Hh signaling molecules, such as GLI1, GLI2, SUFU, and BCL2, is significantly increased and correlates with disease progression of B-CLL patients with clinical outcome. In addition, SUFU and GLI1 transcripts, as determined by real-time PCR, are significantly overexpressed and correlate with adverse indicators of clinical outcome in B-CLL patients, such as cytogenetics or CD38 expression. Furthermore, selective down-regulation of GLI1 by antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (GLI1-ASO) results in decreased BCL2 expression and cell survival, suggesting that GLI1 may regulate BCL2 and, thereby, modulate cell survival in B-CLL. In addition, there was significantly increased apoptosis of B-CLL cells when cultured in the presence of GLI1-ASO and fludarabine. Together, these results reveal that Hh signaling is important in the pathogenesis of B-CLL and, hence, may be a potential therapeutic target.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Leucemia Linfocítica Crônica de Células B
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Células Estromais
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Proteínas Hedgehog
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mol Cancer Res
Ano de publicação:
2008
Tipo de documento:
Article