The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib is a new targeted treatment option for refractory or relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. However, a limited efficacy of bortezomib alone has been reported. A terminal pro-apoptotic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/unfolded protein response (UPR) is one of the several mechanisms of bortezomib-induced apoptosis. Recently, it has been documented that UPR disruption could be considered a selective anti-leukemia therapy. CX-4945, a potent casein kinase (CK) 2 inhibitor, has been found to induce apoptotic cell death in T-ALL preclinical models, via perturbation of ER/UPR pathway. In this study, we analyzed in T-and B-ALL preclinical settings, the molecular mechanisms of synergistic apoptotic effects observed after bortezomib/CX-4945 combined treatment. We demonstrated that, adding CX-4945 after bortezomib treatment, prevented leukemic cells from engaging a functional UPR in order to buffer the bortezomib-mediated proteotoxic stress in ER lumen. We documented that the combined treatment decreased pro-survival ER chaperon BIP/Grp78 expression, via reduction of chaperoning activity of Hsp90. Bortezomib/CX-4945 treatment inhibited NF-kappa B signaling in T-ALL cell lines and primary cells from T-ALL patients, but, intriguingly, in B-ALL cells the drug combination activated NF-kappa B p65 pro-apoptotic functions. In fact in B-cells, the combined treatment induced p65-HDAC1 association with consequent repression of the anti-apoptotic target genes, Bcl-xL and XIAP. Exposure to NEMO (IKK gamma)-binding domain inhibitor peptide reduced the cytotoxic effects of bortezomib/ CX-4945 treatment. Overall, our findings demonstrated that CK2 inhibition could be useful in combination with bortezomib as a novel therapeutic strategy in both T-and B-ALL.

Synergistic cytotoxic effects of bortezomib and CK2 inhibitor CX-4945 in acute lymphoblastic leukemia: turning off the prosurvival er chaperone BIP/GRP78 and turning on the pro-apoptotic NF-κB.

BUONTEMPO, FRANCESCA;ORSINI, ESTER;LONETTI, ANNALISA;Cappellini, A;EVANGELISTI, CECILIA;Evangelisti, C;PESSION, ANDREA;MARTELLI, ALBERTO MARIA
2016

Abstract

The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib is a new targeted treatment option for refractory or relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. However, a limited efficacy of bortezomib alone has been reported. A terminal pro-apoptotic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/unfolded protein response (UPR) is one of the several mechanisms of bortezomib-induced apoptosis. Recently, it has been documented that UPR disruption could be considered a selective anti-leukemia therapy. CX-4945, a potent casein kinase (CK) 2 inhibitor, has been found to induce apoptotic cell death in T-ALL preclinical models, via perturbation of ER/UPR pathway. In this study, we analyzed in T-and B-ALL preclinical settings, the molecular mechanisms of synergistic apoptotic effects observed after bortezomib/CX-4945 combined treatment. We demonstrated that, adding CX-4945 after bortezomib treatment, prevented leukemic cells from engaging a functional UPR in order to buffer the bortezomib-mediated proteotoxic stress in ER lumen. We documented that the combined treatment decreased pro-survival ER chaperon BIP/Grp78 expression, via reduction of chaperoning activity of Hsp90. Bortezomib/CX-4945 treatment inhibited NF-kappa B signaling in T-ALL cell lines and primary cells from T-ALL patients, but, intriguingly, in B-ALL cells the drug combination activated NF-kappa B p65 pro-apoptotic functions. In fact in B-cells, the combined treatment induced p65-HDAC1 association with consequent repression of the anti-apoptotic target genes, Bcl-xL and XIAP. Exposure to NEMO (IKK gamma)-binding domain inhibitor peptide reduced the cytotoxic effects of bortezomib/ CX-4945 treatment. Overall, our findings demonstrated that CK2 inhibition could be useful in combination with bortezomib as a novel therapeutic strategy in both T-and B-ALL.
2016
Buontempo, F; Orsini, E; Lonetti, A; Cappellini, A; Chiarini, F; Evangelisti, C; Evangelisti, C; Melchionda, F; Pession, A; Bertaina, A; Locatelli, F; Bertacchini, J; Neri, Lm; Mccubrey, Ja; Martelli, Am.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/545354
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