Tejera Nevado Paloma, Tešan Tomić Tajana, Atefyekta Ali, Fehr André, Stenman Göran, Andersson Mattias K
Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Front Oncol. 2023 Apr 3;13:1126354. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1126354. eCollection 2023.
T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematologic malignancy with poor prognosis. The oncogene encodes a master transcription factor that is activated in the majority of human T-ALLs. In the present study, we have performed a large-scale screening with small-molecule drugs to find clinically useful inhibitors of gene expression in T-ALL. We identified several pharmacological agents that potentially could be used to treat MYB-driven malignancies. In particular, treatment with the synthetic oleanane triterpenoids (OTs) bardoxolone methyl and omaveloxolone decreased gene activity and expression of MYB downstream target genes in T-ALL cells with constitutive gene activation. Notably, treatment with bardoxolone methyl and omaveloxolone led to a dose-dependent reduction in cell viability and induction of apoptosis at low nanomolar concentrations. In contrast, normal bone marrow-derived cells were unaffected at these concentrations. Bardoxolone methyl and omaveloxolone treatment downregulated the expression of DNA repair genes and sensitized T-ALL cells to doxorubicin, a drug that is part of the standard therapy of T-ALL. OT treatment may thus potentiate DNA-damaging chemotherapy through attenuation of DNA repair. Taken together, our results indicate that synthetic OTs may be useful in the treatment of T-ALL and potentially also in other MYB-driven malignancies.
T细胞急性淋巴细胞白血病(T-ALL)是一种侵袭性血液系统恶性肿瘤,预后较差。该致癌基因编码一种主要转录因子,在大多数人类T-ALL中被激活。在本研究中,我们用小分子药物进行了大规模筛选,以寻找临床上有用的T-ALL基因表达抑制剂。我们鉴定出了几种可能用于治疗MYB驱动的恶性肿瘤的药物。特别是,用合成齐墩果烷三萜(OTs)巴多昔芬甲酯和奥马韦洛昔芬处理,可降低组成型基因激活的T-ALL细胞中基因活性和MYB下游靶基因的表达。值得注意的是,用巴多昔芬甲酯和奥马韦洛昔芬处理导致低纳摩尔浓度下细胞活力呈剂量依赖性降低并诱导细胞凋亡。相比之下,正常骨髓来源的细胞在这些浓度下不受影响。巴多昔芬甲酯和奥马韦洛昔芬处理下调了DNA修复基因的表达,并使T-ALL细胞对阿霉素敏感,阿霉素是T-ALL标准治疗的一部分。因此,OT处理可能通过减弱DNA修复来增强DNA损伤化疗。综上所述,我们的结果表明合成OTs可能对T-ALL的治疗有用,也可能对其他MYB驱动的恶性肿瘤有用。