Fallati Alessandra, Di Marzo Noemi, D'Amico Giovanna, Dander Erica
Centro Ricerca Tettamanti, Pediatric Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Fondazione MBBM, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Jul 6;14(14):3303. doi: 10.3390/cancers14143303.
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are structural components of the bone marrow (BM) niche, where they functionally interact with hematopoietic stem cells and more differentiated progenitors, contributing to hematopoiesis regulation. A growing body of evidence is nowadays pointing to a further crucial contribution of MSCs to malignant hematopoiesis. In the context of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), MSCs can play a pivotal role in the definition of a leukemia-supportive microenvironment, impacting on disease pathogenesis at different steps including onset, maintenance and progression. B-ALL cells hijack the BM microenvironment, including MSCs residing in the BM niche, which in turn shelter leukemic cells and protect them from chemotherapeutic agents through different mechanisms. Evidence is now arising that altered MSCs can become precious allies to leukemic cells by providing nutrients, cytokines, pro-survivals signals and exchanging organelles, as hereafter reviewed. The study of the mechanisms exploited by MSCs to nurture and protect B-ALL blasts can be instrumental in finding new druggable candidates to target the leukemic BM microenvironment. Some of these microenvironment-targeting strategies are already in preclinical or clinical experimentation, and if coupled with leukemia-directed therapies, could represent a valuable option to improve the prognosis of relapsed/refractory patients, whose management represents an unmet medical need.
间充质基质细胞(MSCs)是骨髓(BM)微环境的结构组成部分,在其中它们与造血干细胞以及分化程度更高的祖细胞发生功能性相互作用,参与造血调控。如今,越来越多的证据表明MSCs对恶性造血也有至关重要的作用。在B细胞急性淋巴细胞白血病(B-ALL)的背景下,MSCs在形成白血病支持性微环境中可发挥关键作用,在疾病发病的不同阶段包括发病、维持和进展过程中影响疾病的发病机制。B-ALL细胞劫持骨髓微环境,包括位于骨髓龛中的MSCs,而骨髓微环境反过来又庇护白血病细胞,并通过不同机制保护它们免受化疗药物的作用。现在有证据表明,发生改变的MSCs可通过提供营养物质、细胞因子、促生存信号和交换细胞器,成为白血病细胞的宝贵盟友,如下文所述。研究MSCs培育和保护B-ALL原始细胞所利用的机制,有助于找到针对白血病骨髓微环境的新的可成药靶点。其中一些针对微环境的策略已经处于临床前或临床实验阶段,如果与白血病导向疗法相结合,可能成为改善复发/难治性患者预后的有价值选择,而这些患者的治疗是尚未满足的医疗需求。