title: Activity of the novel dual phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor NVP-BEZ235 against T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: Recent findings have highlighted that constitutively active phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling is a common feature of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), where it upregulates cell proliferation, survival, and drug resistance. These observations lend compelling weight to the application of PI3K/Akt/mTOR inhibitors in the therapy of T-ALL. Here, we have analyzed the therapeutic potential of the novel dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor NVP-BEZ235, an orally bioavailable imidazoquinoline derivative, which has entered clinical trials for solid tumors, on both T-ALL cell lines and patient samples. NVP-BEZ235 was cytotoxic to a panel of T-ALL cell lines as determined by MTT assays. NVP-BEZ235 treatment resulted in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Western blots showed a dose- and time-dependent dephosphorylation of Akt and mTORC1 downstream targets in response to NVP-BEZ235. Remarkably, NVP-BEZ235 targeted the side population of both T-ALL cell lines and patient lymphoblasts, which might correspond to leukemia-initiating cells, and synergized with chemotherapeutic agents (cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, dexamethasone) currently used for treating T-ALL patients. NVP-BEZ235 reduced chemoresistance to vincristine induced in Jurkat cells by coculturing with MS-5 stromal cells, which mimic the bone marrow microenvironment. NVP-BEZ235 was cytotoxic to T-ALL patient lymphoblasts displaying pathway activation, where the drug dephosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1, at variance with rapamycin. Taken together, our findings indicate that longitudinal inhibition at two nodes of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR network with NVP-BEZ235, either alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs, may be an efficient treatment of those T-ALLs that have aberrant upregulation of this signaling pathway for their proliferation and survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiarini
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: Pier Luigi
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Tazzari
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Evangelisti
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ognibene
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Battistelli
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Falcieri
authors.forename: Fraia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Melchionda
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pession
authors.forename: Pasqualepaolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pagliaro
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McCubrey
authors.forename: Alberto M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Martelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019169:Jurkat Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D054218:Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D011804:Quinolines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007093:Imidazoles; D011804:Quinolines; C531198:dactolisib