1
|
Ciardullo C, Szoltysek K, Zhou P, Pietrowska M, Marczak L, Willmore E, Enshaei A, Walaszczyk A, Ho JY, Rand V, Marshall S, Hall AG, Harrison CJ, Soundararajan M, Eswaran J. Low BACH2 Expression Predicts Adverse Outcome in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 14:23. [PMID: 35008187 PMCID: PMC8750551 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14010023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is a heterogeneous disease with a highly variable clinical outcome. There are well-established CLL prognostic biomarkers that have transformed treatment and improved the understanding of CLL biology. Here, we have studied the clinical significance of two crucial B cell regulators, BACH2 (BTB and CNC homology 1, basic leucine zipper transcription factor 2) and BCL6 (B-cell CLL/lymphoma 6), in a cohort of 102 CLL patients and determined the protein interaction networks that they participate in using MEC-1 CLL cells. We observed that CLL patients expressing low levels of BCL6 and BACH2 RNA had significantly shorter overall survival (OS) than high BCL6- and BACH2-expressing cases. Notably, their low expression specifically decreased the OS of immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region-mutated (IGHV-M) CLL patients, as well as those with 11q and 13q deletions. Similar to the RNA data, a low BACH2 protein expression was associated with a significantly shorter OS than a high expression. There was no direct interaction observed between BACH2 and BCL6 in MEC-1 CLL cells, but they shared protein networks that included fifty different proteins. Interestingly, a prognostic index (PI) model that we generated, using integrative risk score values of BACH2 RNA expression, age, and 17p deletion status, predicted patient outcomes in our cohort. Taken together, these data have shown for the first time a possible prognostic role for BACH2 in CLL and have revealed protein interaction networks shared by BCL6 and BACH2, indicating a significant role for BACH2 and BCL6 in key cellular processes, including ubiquitination mediated B-cell receptor functions, nucleic acid metabolism, protein degradation, and homeostasis in CLL biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carmela Ciardullo
- Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; (C.C.); (M.S.)
- Translational & Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (K.S.); (E.W.); (A.E.); (A.G.H.); (C.J.H.)
| | - Katarzyna Szoltysek
- Translational & Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (K.S.); (E.W.); (A.E.); (A.G.H.); (C.J.H.)
- Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute, Oncology Center, Gliwice Branch, 02-034 Warszawa, Poland;
| | - Peixun Zhou
- School of Health & Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3JN, UK; (P.Z.); (V.R.)
- National Horizons Centre, Teesside University, Darlington DL1 1HG, UK
| | - Monika Pietrowska
- Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute, Oncology Center, Gliwice Branch, 02-034 Warszawa, Poland;
| | - Lukasz Marczak
- Department of Natural Products Biochemistry, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704 Poznan, Poland;
| | - Elaine Willmore
- Translational & Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (K.S.); (E.W.); (A.E.); (A.G.H.); (C.J.H.)
| | - Amir Enshaei
- Translational & Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (K.S.); (E.W.); (A.E.); (A.G.H.); (C.J.H.)
| | - Anna Walaszczyk
- Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK;
| | - Jia Yee Ho
- Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, EduCity Iskandar, Johor 79200, Malaysia;
| | - Vikki Rand
- School of Health & Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3JN, UK; (P.Z.); (V.R.)
- National Horizons Centre, Teesside University, Darlington DL1 1HG, UK
| | - Scott Marshall
- Department of Haematology, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust, Sunderland SR4 7TP, UK;
| | - Andrew G. Hall
- Translational & Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (K.S.); (E.W.); (A.E.); (A.G.H.); (C.J.H.)
| | - Christine J. Harrison
- Translational & Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (K.S.); (E.W.); (A.E.); (A.G.H.); (C.J.H.)
| | - Meera Soundararajan
- Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; (C.C.); (M.S.)
| | - Jeyanthy Eswaran
- Translational & Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; (K.S.); (E.W.); (A.E.); (A.G.H.); (C.J.H.)
- Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, EduCity Iskandar, Johor 79200, Malaysia;
| |
Collapse
|