title: Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase induces preferentially killing of PTEN-null T leukemias through AKT pathway.
abstract: We examined the functional role of the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase pathway in the growth and survival of cell lines of T-cell origin. Pharmacological inhibition of PI3'-kinase using LY294002 resulted in apoptosis of acute lymphoblastic T-cell leukemia (T-ALL) cell lines including CEM, Jurkat, and MOLT-4. On the other hand, the cutaneous T-cell lymphoma cell line HUT-78 was found to be refractory to LY294002- inducible apoptosis. Sensitivity or resistance to pharmacological inhibitors of PI3'-kinase correlated with tumor suppressor PTEN gene expression, as sensitive T-ALL cells do not express PTEN and have high level of activated AKT, in contrast to HUT-78 cells. Our data demonstrate that inhibition of PI3'-kinase results in dephosphorylation of AKT and partial inhibition of Bcl-xL expression in T-ALL cells, but not in HUT-78 cells. Interestingly, HUT-78 cells were also found to express higher levels of Bcl-xL protein as compared to T-ALL cells. Inhibition of PI3'-kinase also induces release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and activation of caspase-3 and PARP in all T-ALL cell lines tested, but not in HUT-78 cells. Taken altogether, our data demonstrate that the PI3'-kinase/AKT pathway plays a major role in the growth and survival of PTEN-null T-ALL cells, and identify this cascade as promising target for therapeutic intervention in acute T-cell leukemias.
authors.affiliation: King Fahad National Center for Children's Cancer and Research, MBC# 98-16, P.O. Box 3354, Riyadh 11211, Saudi Arabia. shahab@kfshrc.edu.sa
authors.forename: Shahab
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uddin
authors.forename: Azhar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al-Hussein
authors.forename: Leonidas C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Platanias
authors.forename: Kishor G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Bhatia
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002867:Chromones / Q000494:pharmacology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D006801:Humans; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000172:deficiency*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D015398:Signal Transduction; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002867:Chromones; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D009025:Morpholines; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C085911:2-(4-morpholinyl)-8-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one; C494918:AKT1 protein, human