title: Inhibition of glycolysis modulates prednisolone resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells.
abstract: Treatment failure in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is related to cellular resistance to glucocorticoids (eg, prednisolone). Recently, we demonstrated that genes associated with glucose metabolism are differentially expressed between prednisolone-sensitive and prednisolone-resistant precursor B-lineage leukemic patients. Here, we show that prednisolone resistance is associated with increased glucose consumption and that inhibition of glycolysis sensitizes prednisolone-resistant ALL cell lines to glucocorticoids. Treatment of prednisolone-resistant Jurkat and Molt4 cells with 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), lonidamine (LND), or 3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) increased the in vitro sensitivity to glucocorticoids, while treatment of the prednisolone-sensitive cell lines Tom-1 and RS4; 11 did not influence drug cytotoxicity. This sensitizing effect of the glycolysis inhibitors in glucocorticoid-resistant ALL cells was not found for other classes of antileukemic drugs (ie, vincristine and daunorubicin). Moreover, down-regulation of the expression of GAPDH by RNA interference also sensitized to prednisolone, comparable with treatment with glycolytic inhibitors. Importantly, the ability of 2-DG to reverse glucocorticoid resistance was not limited to cell lines, but was also observed in isolated primary ALL cells from patients. Together, these findings indicate the importance of the glycolytic pathway in glucocorticoid resistance in ALL and suggest that targeting glycolysis is a viable strategy for modulating prednisolone resistance in ALL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Erasmus Medical Center-Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hulleman
authors.forename: Karin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kazemier
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holleman
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: VanderWeele
authors.forename: Charles M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rudin
authors.forename: Mathilde J C
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Broekhuis
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pieters
authors.forename: Monique L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Den Boer
mesh_terms: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000494:pharmacology; D003630:Daunorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003847:Deoxyglucose / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D004357:Drug Synergism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015973:Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic / Q000187:drug effects; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006019:Glycolysis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D014750:Vincristine; D003847:Deoxyglucose; D011239:Prednisolone; D005947:Glucose; D003630:Daunorubicin