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Elgamal OA, Fobare S, Vibhute S, Mehmood A, Vroom DC, Johnson ML, Stearns B, Lerma JR, Truxall J, Stahl E, Carmichael B, Orwick SJ, Mims AS, Curran E, Santhanam R, Tridandapani S, Phelps MA, Xie Z, Coss CC, Baker SD, Patrick J, Ezzell JK, Rai J, Pan J, Rai SN, Stillwell C, Wunderlich M, Abdulrahim M, Goodwin TE, Hilinski G, Bennett CE, Hertlein E, Byrd JC. Pyrimidine depletion enhances targeted and immune therapy combinations in acute myeloid leukemia. JCI Insight 2024; 9:e173646. [PMID: 38646934 PMCID: PMC11141866 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.173646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a fatal disease characterized by the accumulation of undifferentiated myeloblasts, and agents that promote differentiation have been effective in this disease but are not curative. Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase inhibitors (DHODHi) have the ability to promote AML differentiation and target aberrant malignant myelopoiesis. We introduce HOSU-53, a DHODHi with significant monotherapy activity, which is further enhanced when combined with other standard-of-care therapeutics. We further discovered that DHODHi modulated surface expression of CD38 and CD47, prompting the evaluation of HOSU-53 combined with anti-CD38 and anti-CD47 therapies, where we identified a compelling curative potential in an aggressive AML model with CD47 targeting. Finally, we explored using plasma dihydroorotate (DHO) levels to monitor HOSU-53 safety and found that the level of DHO accumulation could predict HOSU-53 intolerability, suggesting the clinical use of plasma DHO to determine safe DHODHi doses. Collectively, our data support the clinical translation of HOSU-53 in AML, particularly to augment immune therapies. Potent DHODHi to date have been limited by their therapeutic index; however, we introduce pharmacodynamic monitoring to predict tolerability while preserving antitumor activity. We additionally suggest that DHODHi is effective at lower doses with select immune therapies, widening the therapeutic index.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ola A. Elgamal
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Sydney Fobare
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Sandip Vibhute
- Medicinal Chemistry Shared Resource, Comprehensive Cancer Center
| | - Abeera Mehmood
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Dennis C. Vroom
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Mariah L. Johnson
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Blaise Stearns
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - James R. Lerma
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Jean Truxall
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Emily Stahl
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Bridget Carmichael
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Shelley J. Orwick
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Alice S. Mims
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - Emily Curran
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Ramasamy Santhanam
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | | | | | - Zhiliang Xie
- College of Pharmacy and Comprehensive Cancer Center; and
| | - Christopher C. Coss
- Drug Development Institute, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | | | - Jeffrey Patrick
- Drug Development Institute, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Janel K. Ezzell
- Drug Development Institute, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Jayesh Rai
- Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine
- Cancer Data Science Center, College of Medicine; and
- Biostatistics and Informatics Shared Resource, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Jianmin Pan
- Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine
- Cancer Data Science Center, College of Medicine; and
- Biostatistics and Informatics Shared Resource, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Shesh N. Rai
- Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine
- Cancer Data Science Center, College of Medicine; and
- Biostatistics and Informatics Shared Resource, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Cody Stillwell
- Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Mark Wunderlich
- Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | | | | | - Gerard Hilinski
- Drug Development Institute, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Chad E. Bennett
- Medicinal Chemistry Shared Resource, Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Drug Development Institute, Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Erin Hertlein
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
| | - John C. Byrd
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
- College of Pharmacy and Comprehensive Cancer Center; and
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Smoljo T, Tomic B, Lalic H, Dembitz V, Batinic J, Bedalov A, Visnjic D. Bone marrow stromal cells reduce low-dose cytarabine-induced differentiation of acute myeloid leukemia. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1258151. [PMID: 37954840 PMCID: PMC10637411 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1258151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) is a standard therapy for elderly acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients unfit for intensive chemotherapy. While high doses of cytarabine induce cytotoxicity, the precise mechanism of action of LDAC in AML remains elusive. In vitro studies have demonstrated LDAC-induced differentiation; however, such differentiation is seldom observed in vivo. We hypothesize that this discrepancy may be attributed to the influence of bone marrow (BM) stromal cells on AML cells. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the impact of BM stromal cells on LDAC-induced differentiation of AML cell lines and primary samples. Our results demonstrate that the presence of MS-5 stromal cells prevented LDAC-induced cell cycle arrest, DNA damage signaling and differentiation of U937 and MOLM-13 cell lines. Although transcriptomic analysis revealed that the stroma reduces the expression of genes involved in cytokine signaling and oxidative stress, data obtained with pharmacological inhibitors and neutralizing antibodies did not support the role for CXCL12, TGF-β1 or reactive oxygen species. The presence of stromal cells reduces LDAC-induced differentiation in primary samples from AML-M4 and myelodysplastic syndrome/AML patients. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that BM stroma reduces differentiation of AML induced by LDAC. These findings provide insights into the limited occurrence of terminal differentiation observed in AML patients, and suggest a potential explanation for this observation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomislav Smoljo
- Laboratory for Cell Biology, Department of Physiology, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Barbara Tomic
- Laboratory for Cell Biology, Department of Physiology, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Hrvoje Lalic
- Laboratory for Cell Biology, Department of Physiology, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Vilma Dembitz
- Laboratory for Cell Biology, Department of Physiology, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Josip Batinic
- Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Antonio Bedalov
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Dora Visnjic
- Laboratory for Cell Biology, Department of Physiology, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
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More P, Ngaffo JAM, Goedtel-Armbrust U, Hähnel PS, Hartwig UF, Kindler T, Wojnowski L. Transcriptional Response to Standard AML Drugs Identifies Synergistic Combinations. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:12926. [PMID: 37629110 PMCID: PMC10455220 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241612926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Unlike genomic alterations, gene expression profiles have not been widely used to refine cancer therapies. We analyzed transcriptional changes in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines in response to standard first-line AML drugs cytarabine and daunorubicin by means of RNA sequencing. Those changes were highly cell- and treatment-specific. By comparing the changes unique to treatment-sensitive and treatment-resistant AML cells, we enriched for treatment-relevant genes. Those genes were associated with drug response-specific pathways, including calcium ion-dependent exocytosis and chromatin remodeling. Pharmacological mimicking of those changes using EGFR and MEK inhibitors enhanced the response to daunorubicin with minimum standalone cytotoxicity. The synergistic response was observed even in the cell lines beyond those used for the discovery, including a primary AML sample. Additionally, publicly available cytotoxicity data confirmed the synergistic effect of EGFR inhibitors in combination with daunorubicin in all 60 investigated cancer cell lines. In conclusion, we demonstrate the utility of treatment-evoked gene expression changes to formulate rational drug combinations. This approach could improve the standard AML therapy, especially in older patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piyush More
- Department of Pharmacology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (J.A.M.N.); (U.G.-A.); (L.W.)
| | - Joëlle Aurelie Mekontso Ngaffo
- Department of Pharmacology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (J.A.M.N.); (U.G.-A.); (L.W.)
- Leibniz Institute for New Materials, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Ute Goedtel-Armbrust
- Department of Pharmacology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (J.A.M.N.); (U.G.-A.); (L.W.)
| | - Patricia S. Hähnel
- University Cancer Center (UCT) Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (P.S.H.); (T.K.)
- Department of Hematology & Medical Oncology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany;
| | - Udo F. Hartwig
- Department of Hematology & Medical Oncology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany;
- Research Center of Immunotherapy, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Thomas Kindler
- University Cancer Center (UCT) Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (P.S.H.); (T.K.)
- Department of Hematology & Medical Oncology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany;
| | - Leszek Wojnowski
- Department of Pharmacology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55131 Mainz, Germany; (J.A.M.N.); (U.G.-A.); (L.W.)
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