Department of Pharmacy, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, China.
Laboratory of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Centre of Guizhou Province, Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou, China.
J Cell Biochem. 2019 Oct;120(10):17791-17810. doi: 10.1002/jcb.29046. Epub 2019 Jul 2.
Chemoresistance often causes treatment failure of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). However, the mechanism remains unclear at present. Herein, overexpression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) was found in the bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) from B-ALL patients developing resistance to vincristine (VCR), a chemotherapeutic agent. Two B-ALL cell lines Super B15 and CCRF-SB were cocultured with BMSCs transfected with lentivirus to regulate the expression of HO-1. Silencing HO-1 expression in BMSCs increased the apoptotic rates of B-ALL cell lines induced by VCR, whereas upregulating HO-1 expression reduced the rate. Cell cycle can be arrested in the G2/M phase by VCR. In contrast, B-ALL cells were arrested in the G0/G1 phase due to HO-1 overexpression in BMSCs, which avoided damage from the G2/M phase. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in BMSCs, as a key factor in the microenvironment-associated chemoresistance, was also positively coexpressed with HO-1. VEGF secretion was markedly increased in BMSCs with HO-1 upregulation but decreased in BMSCs with HO-1 silencing. B-ALL cell lines became resistant to VCR when cultured with VEGF recombinant protein, so VEGF secretion induced by HO-1 expression may promote the VCR resistance of B-ALL cells. As to the molecular mechanism, the PI3K/AKT pathway mediated regulation of VEGF by HO-1. In conclusion, this study clarifies a mechanism by which B-ALL is induced to resist VCR through HO-1 overexpression in BMSCs, and provides a novel strategy for overcoming VCR resistance in clinical practice.
化疗耐药常常导致 B 细胞急性淋巴细胞白血病(B-ALL)的治疗失败。然而,目前其机制尚不清楚。在此,我们发现对长春新碱(VCR)耐药的 B-ALL 患者骨髓基质细胞(BMSCs)中血红素加氧酶-1(HO-1)表达上调。将慢病毒转染的 BMSCs 与 B-ALL 细胞系 Super B15 和 CCRF-SB 共培养,以调节 HO-1 的表达。沉默 BMSCs 中的 HO-1 表达可增加 VCR 诱导的 B-ALL 细胞系的凋亡率,而上调 HO-1 表达则降低了该比率。VCR 可使细胞周期阻滞在 G2/M 期。相反,由于 BMSCs 中 HO-1 的过表达,B-ALL 细胞被阻滞在 G0/G1 期,从而避免了 G2/M 期的损伤。血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)作为微环境相关化疗耐药的关键因素,在 BMSCs 中与 HO-1 呈正共表达。HO-1 上调可显著增加 BMSCs 中 VEGF 的分泌,而 HO-1 沉默则降低了 VEGF 的分泌。当与 VEGF 重组蛋白共培养时,B-ALL 细胞系对 VCR 产生耐药性,因此 HO-1 表达诱导的 VEGF 分泌可能促进了 B-ALL 细胞对 VCR 的耐药性。就分子机制而言,HO-1 通过 PI3K/AKT 通路介导 VEGF 的调节。总之,本研究阐明了通过 BMSCs 中 HO-1 的过表达诱导 B-ALL 抵抗 VCR 的机制,并为克服临床实践中 VCR 耐药提供了新的策略。