Type 4 cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase as a therapeutic target in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Theophylline, a drug known to inhibit several classes of adenosine 3'5' cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) phosphodiesterases (PDEs), induces apoptosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. Because the PDE target for theophylline in CLL remains unknown, we examined the ability of isoform-specific PDE inhibitors to increase cAMP levels and induce apoptosis in primary CLL cells. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction of purified CLL cDNA amplified transcripts for PDE1B, 4A and 4B. The type 4 PDE inhibitor rolipram but not the type 1 inhibitor vinpocetine increased CLL cAMP levels. Rolipram-inhibitable (type 4) but not calcium-calmodulin augmented (type 1) PDE enzyme activity was detected in CLL samples. In samples from 13 of 14 CLL patients, rolipram induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent fashion over a 48-hour period. Interleukin-2 (IL-2)-cultured whole mononuclear cells (WMC) and anti-Ig stimulated CD19(+) B cells were resistant to the induction of apoptosis by rolipram while unstimulated CD19(+) B cells, which had a high basal apoptotic rate, were more sensitive. Rolipram stimulated elevations in cAMP levels in all four of these cell populations, suggesting that they differed in sensitivity to cAMP-induced apoptosis. Consistent with this hypothesis, incubation with the cell permeable cAMP analog dibutyryl-cAMP induced apoptosis in CLL cells and unstimulated B cells but not in IL-2-cultured WMC or anti-Ig stimulated B cells. These data identify PDE4 as a family of enzymes whose inhibition induces apoptosis in CLL cells.