Targeting the NTSR2/TrkB oncogenic pathway in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Current therapies that target the B-cell receptor pathway or the inhibition of anti-apoptotic proteins do not prevent the progressive forms of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), have low long-term efficacy and are subject to therapeutic resistance. Deciphering the mechanisms of leukemic cell survival and searching for new specific targets therefore remain major challenges to improve the management of this disease. It was evidenced that NTSR2 (neurotensin receptor 2), through the recruitment of TRKB (tropomyosin related kinase B), induces survival pathways in leukemic B cells. We have investigated the therapeutic potential of this protein complex as a new target. The binding domain of NTSR2 and TRKB was identified and a peptide targeting the latter was designed. The peptide binds TRKB and efficiently decreases the interaction of the two proteins. It is also effectively internalized by CLL-B cells in which it notably affects Src family kinase signaling and anti-apoptotic proteins levels. It demonstrated a cytotoxic effect both in vitro on the MEC-1 cell line and ex vivo on a cohort of 30 CLL patients. Altogether, these results underline the therapeutic potential of the NTSR2/TRKB protein complex as a target in CLL and open new perspectives for the development of targeted therapies.

Use of high-plex data provides novel insights into the temporal artery processes of giant cell arteritis.

Objective: To identify the key coding genes underlying the biomarkers and pathways associated with giant cell arteritis (GCA), we performed an in situ spatial profiling of molecules involved in the temporal arteries of GCA patients and controls. Furthermore, we performed pharmacogenomic network analysis to identify potential treatment targets. Methods: Using human formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded temporal artery biopsy samples (GCA, n = 9; controls, n = 7), we performed a whole transcriptome analysis using the NanoString GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler. In total, 59 regions of interest were selected in the intima, media, adventitia, and perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (fold-change > 2 or < -2, p-adjusted < 0.01) were compared across each layer to build a spatial and pharmacogenomic network and to explore the pathophysiological mechanisms of GCA. Results: Most of the transcriptome (12,076 genes) was upregulated in GCA arteries, compared to control arteries. Among the screened genes, 282, 227, 40, and 5 DEGs were identified in the intima, media, adventitia, and PVAT, respectively. Genes involved in the immune process and vascular remodeling were upregulated within GCA temporal arteries but differed across the arterial layers. The immune-related functions and vascular remodeling were limited to the intima and media. Conclusion: This study is the first to perform an in situ spatial profiling characterization of the molecules involved in GCA. The pharmacogenomic network analysis identified potential target genes for approved and novel immunotherapies.

BDNF belongs to the nurse-like cell secretome and supports survival of B chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells.

Evading apoptosis and sustained survival signaling pathways are two central hallmarks of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells. In this regard, nurse-like cells (NLC), the monocyte-derived type 2 macrophages, deliver stimulatory signals via B-cell activating factor (BAFF), a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), and the C-X-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 12 (CXCL12). Previously, we demonstrated that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protects B-CLL cells from spontaneous apoptosis by activating the oncogenic complex NTSR2-TrkB (neurotensin receptor 2-tropomyosin-related kinase receptor B), only overexpressed in B-CLL cells, inducing anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) expression and Src kinase survival signaling pathways. Herein, we demonstrate that BDNF belongs to the NLC secretome and promotes B-CLL survival. This was demonstrated in primary B-CLL co-cultured with their autologous NLC, compared to B-CLL cells cultured alone. Inhibition of BDNF in co-cultures, enhances B-CLL apoptosis, whereas its exogenous recombinant activates pro-survival pathways in B-CLL cultured alone (i.e. Src activation and Bcl-2 expression), at a higher level than those obtained by the exogenous recombinant cytokines BAFF, APRIL and CXCL12, the known pro-survival cytokines secreted by NLC. Together, these results showed that BDNF release from NLC trigger B-CLL survival. Blocking BDNF would support research strategies against pro-survival cytokines to limit sustained B-CLL cell survival.

Regulatory Roles of Sortilin and SorLA in Immune-Related Processes.

Sortilin, also known as Neurotensin Receptor-3, and the sorting-related receptor with type-A repeats (SorLA) are both members of the Vps10p domain receptor family. Initially identified in CNS cells, they are expressed in various other cell types where they exert multiple functions. Although mostly studied for its involvement in Alzheimer's disease, SorLA has recently been shown to be implicated in immune response by regulating IL-6-mediated signaling, as well as driving monocyte migration. Sortilin has been shown to act as a receptor, as a co-receptor and as an intra- and extracellular trafficking regulator. In the last two decades, deregulation of sortilin has been demonstrated to be involved in many human pathophysiologies, including neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases), type 2 diabetes and obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular pathologies such as atherosclerosis. Several studies highlighted different functions of sortilin in the immune system, notably in microglia, pro-inflammatory cytokine regulation, phagosome fusion and pathogen clearance. In this review, we will analyze the multiple roles of sortilin and SorLA in the human immune system and how their deregulation may be involved in disease development.

Sortilin limits EGFR signaling by promoting its internalization in lung cancer.

Tyrosine kinase receptors such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) transduce information from the microenvironment into the cell and activate homeostatic signaling pathways. Internalization and degradation of EGFR after ligand binding limits the intensity of proliferative signaling, thereby helping to maintain cell integrity. In cancer cells, deregulation of EGFR trafficking has a variety of effects on tumor progression. Here we report that sortilin is a key regulator of EGFR internalization. Loss of sortilin in tumor cells promoted cell proliferation by sustaining EGFR signaling at the cell surface, ultimately accelerating tumor growth. In lung cancer patients, sortilin expression decreased with increased pathologic grade, and expression of sortilin was strongly correlated with survival, especially in patients with high EGFR expression. Sortilin is therefore a regulator of EGFR intracellular trafficking that promotes receptor internalization and limits signaling, which in turn impacts tumor growth.

A new role under sortilin's belt in cancer.

The neurotensin receptor-3 also known as sortilin was the first member of the small family of vacuolar protein sorting 10 protein domain (Vps10p) discovered two decades ago in the human brain. The expression of sortilin is not confined to the nervous system but sortilin is ubiquitously expressed in many tissues. Sortilin has multiple roles in the cell as a receptor or a co-receptor, in protein transport of many interacting partners to the plasma membrane, to the endocytic pathway and to the lysosomes for protein degradation. Sortilin could be considered as the cells own shuttle system. In many human diseases including neurological diseases and cancer, sortilin expression has been shown to be deregulated. In addition, some studies have highlighted that the extracellular domain of sortilin is shedded into the culture media by an unknown mechanism. Sortilin can be released in exosomes and appears to control some mechanisms of exosome biogenesis. In lung cancer cells, sortilin can associate with two receptor tyrosine kinase receptors called the TES complex found in exosomes. Exosomes carrying the TES complex can convey a microenvironment control through the activation of ErbB signaling pathways and the release of angiogenic factors. Deregulation of sortilin function is now emerging to be implicated in four major human diseases- cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer disease and cancer.

p75 neurotrophin receptor and pro-BDNF promote cell survival and migration in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

p75NTR, a member of TNF receptor family, is the low affinity receptor common to several mature neurotrophins and the high affinity receptor for pro-neurotrophins. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a member of neurotrophin family has been described to play an important role in development and progression of several cancers, through its binding to a high affinity tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB) and/or p75NTR. However, the functions of these two receptors in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have never been investigated. An overexpression of p75NTR, pro-BDNF, and to a lesser extent for TrkB and sortilin, was detected by immunohistochemistry in a cohort of 83 clear cell RCC tumors. p75NTR, mainly expressed in tumor tissues, was significantly associated with higher Fuhrman grade in multivariate analysis. In two derived-RCC lines, 786-O and ACHN cells, we demonstrated that pro-BDNF induced cell survival and migration, through p75NTR as provided by p75NTR RNA silencing or blocking anti-p75NTR antibody. This mechanism is independent of TrkB activation as demonstrated by k252a, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor for Trk neurotrophin receptors. Taken together, these data highlight for the first time an important role for p75NTR in renal cancer and indicate a putative novel target therapy in RCC.

The Ins and Outs of Nanoparticle Technology in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Cancer.

As we enter the twenty-first century, several therapies based on using nanoparticles (NPs) ranging in size 1 - 1000 nm have been successfully brought to the clinic to treat cancer, pain and infectious diseases. These therapies bring together the ability of NPs to target the delivery of drugs more precisely, to improve solubility, to prevent degradation, to improve their therapeutic index and to reduce the immune response. NPs come in all shapes and sizes, designed specifically for biomedical applications such as solid lipid polymers, liposomes, dendrimers, nanogels, and quantum dots. These NPs offer many attractive characteristics such as biological stability and biocompatibility, thus incorporating different biological or drug molecules. Among the major therapeutic challenges from neurological diseases through to cancer is the development of nanomaterials that are able to be effective against the disease. In the case of neurodegeneration, one of the most difficult areas to penetrate for drug discovery in the body is the central nervous system, protected by the blood-brain-barrier. Whilst in the case of cancer, the biggest problem is how to specifically target a tumor with sufficient drug without causing side effects or inducing resistance. A new generation of intelligent NPs are emerging for the treatment of human disease such as neurological disorders and cancer. The use of natural alternative therapy is an encouraging idea in drug discovery. To this end as we gain more knowledge into the biological function of exosomes, this will allow us to harness their potential as natural NPs in future therapeutics.

The implications of sortilin/vps10p domain receptors in neurological and human diseases.

The neurotensin receptor-3 also known as sortilin is part of the new receptor family of vacuolar protein sorting 10 protein domain. Growing evidence show that the vacuolar protein sorting 10 protein domain family is implicated as a genetic risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and Parkinson's disease, in addition to links associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, lysosomal disorders, cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis. In fact, sortilin expression is elevated in many human cell lines controlling the trafficking and release of neurotrophins. Hence, not surprisingly the imbalance of neurotrophin signaling is implicated in several human diseases. The fine regulation of the growth factor, brain derived nerve factor by sortilin mediates both neuronal and tumor cell survival, whereas in Alzheimer's disease sortilin mediated beta secretase-1 trafficking increases the cleavage of the beta-amyloid precursor protein. Perturbation of the autocrine/paracrine loop of neurotrophins in combination with the cell surface interaction of sortilin with neurotensin receptor 1 or 2 or tyrosine kinase receptor A or B are dramatically upregulated in both neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. In cardiovascular diseases, the circulatory low-density lipoprotein is closely correlated with sortilin expression in hepatocytes. Herein, this review discusses the multifaceted role played by sortilin and its interacting partners in human disease which could be interesting novel target(s) in drug discovery. Nevertheless, completely challenging the function of sortilin could prove unfavorable given the important universal role of sortilin plays in the body. Hence, metabolism disorders could be relieved with specific targeted therapeutic challenge of sortilin function.

Sortilin mediates the release and transfer of exosomes in concert with two tyrosine kinase receptors.

The transfer of exosomes containing both genetic and protein materials is necessary for the control of the cancer cell microenvironment to promote tumor angiogenesis. The nature and function of proteins found in the exosomal cargo, and the mechanism of their action in membrane transport and related signaling events are not clearly understood. In this study, we demonstrate, in human lung cancer A549 cells, that the exosome release mechanism is closely linked to the multifaceted receptor sortilin (also called neurotensin receptor 3). Sortilin is already known to be important for cancer cell function. Here, we report for the first time its role in the assembly of a tyrosine kinase complex and subsequent exosome release. This new complex (termed the TES complex) is found in exosomes and results in the linkage of the two tyrosine kinase receptors TrkB (also known as NTRK2) and EGFR with sortilin. Using in vitro models, we demonstrate that this sortilin-containing complex exhibits a control on endothelial cells and angiogenesis activation through exosome transfer.

Autophagy takes place in mutated p53 neuroblastoma cells in response to hypoxia mimetic CoCl(2).

Solid tumors like neuroblastoma exhibit hypoxic areas, which can lead both to cell death or aggressiveness increase. Hypoxia is a known stress able to induce stabilization of p53, implicated in cell fate regulation. Recently, p53 appeared to be involved in autophagy in an opposite manner, depending on its location: when nuclear, it enhanced transcription of pro-autophagic genes whereas when cytoplasmic, it inhibited the autophagic process. Today, we used cobalt chloride, a hypoxia mimetic that inhibits proteasomal HIF-1 degradation and generates reactive oxygen species (ROS). We focused on CoCl2-induced cell death in a DNA-binding mutated p53 neuroblastoma cell line (SKNBE(2c)). An autophagic signaling was evidenced by an increase of Beclin-1, ATG 5-12, and LC3-II expression whereas the p53(mut) presence decreased with CoCl2 time exposure. Activation of the pathway seemed to protect cells from ROS production and, at least in part, from death. The autophagic inhibitors activated the apoptotic signaling and the death was enhanced. To delineate the eventual implication of the p53(mut) in the autophagic process in response to hypoxia, we monitored signaling in p53(WT)SHSY5Y cells, after either shRNA-p53 down-regulation or transcriptional activity inhibition by pifithrin alpha. We did not detect autophagy neither with p53(wt) nor when p53 was lacking whereas such a response was effective with a mutated or inactivated p53. To conclude, mutated p53 in neuroblastoma cells could be linked with the switch between apoptotic response and cell death by autophagy in response to hypoxic mimetic stress.

Photodynamic treatment induces cell death by apoptosis or autophagy depending on the melanin content in two B16 melanoma cell lines.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is now a well-established treatment modality for cutaneous carcinomas and is based on the administration of a light-activated drug followed by illumination of the pathological area. The treatment of metastatic melanoma remains a therapeutic challenge. To define the possible role of melanin in relative phototoxicity of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), a photosensitizer used in PDT in vivo, we studied cell death in two variants (with or without melanin, B16F10 and B16G4F cells, respectively) of a melanoma cell line. Concentrations of 5-Ala up to 10 mM induced similar cytostatic effects in the B16G4F and B16F10 cells. PDT and high 5-ALA concentrations induced photocytotoxicity in both melanoma cell lines (at 10 mM for B16F10 cells and at 5 mM for B16G4F cells). Cell death corresponded to p53-dependent apoptotic signaling in pigmented B16F10 cells, whereas an autophagic response leading to a caspase-independent death was detected in non-pigmented B16G4F cells. Therefore, the PDT-induced cell death pathway appeared to correlate with melanin synthesis capacity in melanoma cells. To reduce the cytotoxicity of 5-ALA without irradiation, a low drug concentration could be used. Consequently, in combination with current therapeutics, a moderate concentration of 5-ALA and PDT may constitute a supplementary promising approach to eliminate metastatic melanoma.

Autophagic subpopulation sorting by sedimentation field-flow fractionation.

The development of hypoxic areas often takes place in solid tumors and leads cells to undergo adaptive signalization like autophagy. This process is responsible for misfolded or aggregated proteins and nonfunctional organelle recycling, allowing cells to maintain their energetic status. However, it could constitute a double-edged pathway leading to both survival and cell death. So, in response to stress such as hypoxia, autophagic and apoptotic cells are often mixed. To specifically study and characterize autophagic cells and the process, we needed to develop a method able to (1) isolate autophagic subpopulation and (2) respect apoptotic and autophagic status. Sedimentation field-flow fractionation (SdFFF) was first used to monitor physical parameter changes due to the hypoxia mimetic CoCl(2) in the p53 mutated SKNBE2(c) human neuroblastoma cell line. Second, we showed that "hyperlayer" elution is able to prepare autophagic enriched populations, fraction (F3), overexpressing autophagic markers (i.e., LC3-II accumulation and punctiform organization of autophagosomes as well as cathepsin B overactivity). Conversely, the first eluted fraction exhibited apoptotic markers (caspase-3 activity and Bax increased expression). For the first time, SdFFF was employed as an analytical tool in order to discriminate apoptotic and autophagic cells, thus providing an enriched autophagic fraction consecutively to a hypoxic stress.

The cell death response to the ROS inducer, cobalt chloride, in neuroblastoma cell lines according to p53 status.

Cobalt chloride (CoCl2), a hypoxia-mimetic agent, induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, leading to cell death. Divergent data have been reported concerning p53 implication in this apoptotic mechanism. In this study, we studied cobalt-induced cell death in neuroblastoma cell lines carrying wild-type (WT) p53 ( SHSY5Y) and a mutated DNA-binding domain p53 [SKNBE(2c)]. CoCl2 induced an upregulation of p53, p21 and PUMA expression in WT cells but not in SKNBE(2c). In SHSY5Y cells, p53 serine-15 phosphorylation appeared early (6 h) in the mitochondria, and also in the nucleus after 12 h. In contrast, in SKNBE(2c) cells, the slight nuclear signal disappeared with CoCl2 treatment. In SHSY5Y cells, a mitochondrial pathway dependent on caspases [collapse of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (∆Ψmt), caspase 3 and 9 activation], was activated in a time-dependent manner. SKNBE(2c) cells exhibited a delay in the cell death executive phase linked to a caspase-independent pathway, involving apoptosis inducing factor nuclear translocation, but also an autophagic process attested by LC3-II expression and cathepsin-B activation. The downregulation of p53 in SHSY5Y cells by siRNA induced a cell death pathway related to the one observed in SKNBE(2c) cells. Finally, CoCl2 induced time-dependent canonical p53 mitochondrial apoptosis in the WT p53 cell line, and caspase-independent cell death in cells with a mutated or KO p53.

Autophagy in human keratinocytes: an early step of the differentiation?

Studies have established that autophagy constitutes an efficient process to recycle cellular components and certain proteins. The phenomenon was demonstrated primarily in response to nutrient starvation, and there are increasing evidences that it is implied in differentiation. Keratinocyte differentiation was going along an activation of lysosomal enzymes and organelle clearance, and terminal steps are sometimes described as a specialized form of cell death leading to corneocytes. We examined whether initiation of the process in human keratinocyte HaCaT involves autophagy. The KSFM™ culture medium was substituted by M199, which contains a low glucose concentration but a high calcium level (known to induce differentiation). Metabolic stress reduced enhanced cell number in G(1) phase, without apoptotic features (ΔΨmt and membrane integrity are unchanged). Morphological changes were associated with a lower integrin ß1 expression and modifications of protein levels involved in keratinocyte differentiation (involucrin, keratin K10 and ΔNp63α). Whereas autophagic signalling was supported by SIRT1 and pAMPK (T172) increase according to time kinetic, which led to the disappearance of mTOR phosphorylated on S2448 residue. The significant Bcl-X(L) level reduction with stress promoted autophagy, by the release of Beclin-1, whereas ATG5-ATG12 and LC3-II that are involved in autophagosome formation were enhanced significantly. Then, the level of lysosomal protein cathepsin B rose to execute autophagy. Kinetic studies established that autophagy would constitute an early signalling process required for keratinocyte commitment in differentiation pathway.