Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that hard-to-reach, drug-resistant leukemia stem cells (LSCs) that overexpress multiple pro-survival protein forms are sensitive and thus vulnerable to a novel cancer stem cell-targeting drug currently under development.
The findings, published in the January 17 online issue of Cell Stem Cell, open the possibility that diseases like chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and some solid tumor cancers might in combination with other therapies be more effectively treated with this drug, and with a lower chance of relapse.
Led by principal investigator Catriona H. M. Jamieson, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine and director of stem cell research at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, the researchers found that a compound called sabutoclax appears to selectively target LSCs that express particular protein isoforms through alternatively splicing, a fundamental process in which a gene is able to code for multiple proteins.
An emerging class of drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) such as imitinib (Gleevec), gifitinib (Iressa) and sunitinib (Sutent) has become a popular anti-cancer treatment. However, current TKIs are not 100 percent effective. In cases of CML, for example, some LSCs tucked protectively within bone marrow elude destruction, develop resistance to therapy, self-renew and eventually cause the leukemia to dramatically return.
Jamieson and colleagues found that alternative splicing of BCL2 genes, which code for proteins involved in apoptosis or programmed cell death, specifically promoted malignant transformation of dormant white blood cell precursors into "blast crisis" LSCs. The blast crisis is the final phase of CML when overabundant, abnormal white blood cells crowd out healthy cells, causing serious dysfunction.
Of clinical importance, they noted that sabutoclax, which suppresses all BCL2 ant
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| Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego Source:Eurekalert |