title: Hedgehog-induced survival of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells in a stromal cell microenvironment: a potential new therapeutic target.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6395, USA.
authors.forename: Ganapati V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Hegde
authors.forename: Katie J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Katy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Emanuel
authors.forename: Amit K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mittal
authors.forename: Avadhut D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Dickinson
authors.forename: Gayathri J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Kollessery
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Bociek
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bierman
authors.forename: Julie M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Vose
authors.forename: Dennis D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Weisenburger
authors.forename: Shantaram S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Joshi
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015973:Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020319:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense / Q000494:pharmacology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics; D014740:Vidarabine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D000071676:Zinc Finger Protein GLI1
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; C509245:DHH protein, human; C400551:GLI1 protein, human; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; C509246:IHH protein, human; D020319:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense; C509239:SHH protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000071676:Zinc Finger Protein GLI1; D014740:Vidarabine; C024352:fludarabine