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Chinchole A, Lone KA, Tyagi S. MLL regulates the actin cytoskeleton and cell migration by stabilising Rho GTPases via the expression of RhoGDI1. J Cell Sci 2022; 135:jcs260042. [PMID: 36111497 PMCID: PMC7615853 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.260042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Attainment of proper cell shape and the regulation of cell migration are essential processes in the development of an organism. The mixed lineage leukemia (MLL or KMT2A) protein, a histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methyltransferase, plays a critical role in cell-fate decisions during skeletal development and haematopoiesis in higher vertebrates. Rho GTPases - RhoA, Rac1 and CDC42 - are small G proteins that regulate various key cellular processes, such as actin cytoskeleton formation, the maintenance of cell shape and cell migration. Here, we report that MLL regulates the homeostasis of these small Rho GTPases. Loss of MLL resulted in an abnormal cell shape and a disrupted actin cytoskeleton, which lead to diminished cell spreading and migration. MLL depletion affected the stability and activity of Rho GTPases in a SET domain-dependent manner, but these Rho GTPases were not direct transcriptional targets of MLL. Instead, MLL regulated the transcript levels of their chaperone protein RhoGDI1 (also known as ARHGDIA). Using MDA-MB-231, a triple-negative breast cancer cell line with high RhoGDI1 expression, we show that MLL depletion or inhibition by small molecules reduces tumour progression in nude mice. Our studies highlight the central regulatory role of MLL in Rho/Rac/CDC42 signalling pathways. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akash Chinchole
- Laboratory of Cell Cycle Regulation, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Uppal, Hyderabad 500039, India
- Graduate Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 567104, India
| | - Kaisar Ahmad Lone
- Laboratory of Cell Cycle Regulation, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Uppal, Hyderabad 500039, India
- Graduate Studies, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad 121001, India
| | - Shweta Tyagi
- Laboratory of Cell Cycle Regulation, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Uppal, Hyderabad 500039, India
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Targeting Ca2+ and Mitochondrial Homeostasis by Antipsychotic Thioridazine in Leukemia Cells. Life (Basel) 2022; 12:life12101477. [PMID: 36294912 PMCID: PMC9605445 DOI: 10.3390/life12101477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Mitochondria have pivotal roles in cellular physiology including energy metabolism, reactive oxygen species production, Ca2+ homeostasis, and apoptosis. Altered mitochondrial morphology and function is a common feature of cancer cells and the regulation of mitochondrial homeostasis has been identified as a key to the response to chemotherapeutic agents in human leukemias. Here, we explore the mechanistic aspects of cytotoxicity produced by thioridazine (TR), an antipsychotic drug that has been investigated for its anticancer potential in human leukemia cellular models. TR exerts selective cytotoxicity against human leukemia cells in vitro. A PCR array provided a general view of the expression of genes involved in cell death pathways. TR immediately produced a pulse of cytosolic Ca2+, followed by mitochondrial uptake, resulting in mitochondrial permeabilization, caspase 9/3 activation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and apoptosis. Ca2+ chelators, thiol reducer dithiothreitol, or CHOP knockdown prevented TR-induced cell death. TR also exhibited potent cytotoxicity against BCL-2/BCL-xL-overexpressing leukemia cells. Additionally, previous studies have shown that TR exhibits potent antitumor activity in vivo in different solid tumor models. These findings show that TR induces a Ca2+-mediated apoptosis with involvement of mitochondrial permeabilization and ER stress in leukemia and it emphasizes the pharmacological potential of TR as an adjuvant in antitumor chemotherapy.
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Brown JS. Treatment of cancer with antipsychotic medications: Pushing the boundaries of schizophrenia and cancer. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 141:104809. [PMID: 35970416 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Over a century ago, the phenothiazine dye, methylene blue, was discovered to have both antipsychotic and anti-cancer effects. In the 20th-century, the first phenothiazine antipsychotic, chlorpromazine, was found to inhibit cancer. During the years of elucidating the pharmacology of the phenothiazines, reserpine, an antipsychotic with a long historical background, was likewise discovered to have anti-cancer properties. Research on the effects of antipsychotics on cancer continued slowly until the 21st century when efforts to repurpose antipsychotics for cancer treatment accelerated. This review examines the history of these developments, and identifies which antipsychotics might treat cancer, and which cancers might be treated by antipsychotics. The review also describes the molecular mechanisms through which antipsychotics may inhibit cancer. Although the overlap of molecular pathways between schizophrenia and cancer have been known or suspected for many years, no comprehensive review of the subject has appeared in the psychiatric literature to assess the significance of these similarities. This review fills that gap and discusses what, if any, significance the similarities have regarding the etiology of schizophrenia.
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Tregnago C, Benetton M, Da Ros A, Borella G, Longo G, Polato K, Francescato S, Biffi A, Pigazzi M. Novel Compounds Synergize With Venetoclax to Target KMT2A-Rearranged Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Front Pharmacol 2022; 12:820191. [PMID: 35153769 PMCID: PMC8830338 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.820191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML), fusions involving lysine methyltransferase 2A (KMT2A) are considered hallmarks of aggressive AML, for whom the development of targeted specific therapeutic agents to ameliorate classic chemotherapy and obtain a complete eradication of disease is urgent. In this study, we investigated the antiapoptotic proteins in a cohort of 66 pediatric AML patients, finding that 75% of the KMT2A-r are distributed in Q3 + Q4 quartiles of BCL-2 expression, and KMT2A-r have statistically significant high levels of BCL-2, phospho-BCL-2 S70, and MCL-1, indicating a high anti-apoptotic pathway activation. In an attempt to target it, we tested novel drug combinations of venetoclax, a B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) inhibitor, in KMT2A-MLLT3, for being the most recurrent, and KMT2A-AFDN, for mediating the worst prognosis, rearranged AML cell lines. Our screening revealed that both the bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) inhibitor, I-BET151, and kinase inhibitor, sunitinib, decreased the BCL-2 family protein expression and significantly synergized with venetoclax, enhancing KMT2A-r AML cell line death. Blasts t (6; 11) KMT2A-AFDN rearranged, both from cell lines and primary samples, were shown to be significantly highly responsive to the combination of venetoclax and thioridazine, with the synergy being induced by a dramatic increase of mitochondrial depolarization that triggered blast apoptosis. Finally, the efficacy of novel combined drug treatments was confirmed in KMT2A-r AML cell lines or ex vivo primary KMT2A-r AML samples cultured in a three-dimensional system which mimics the bone marrow niche. Overall, this study identified that, by high-throughput screening, the most KMT2A-selective drugs converged in different but all mitochondrial apoptotic network activation, supporting the use of venetoclax in this AML setting. The novel drug combinations here unveiled provide a rationale for evaluating these combinations in preclinical studies to accelerate the introduction of targeted therapies for the life-threatening KMT2A-AML subgroup of pediatric AML.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Tregnago
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Maddalena Benetton
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Ambra Da Ros
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Giulia Borella
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Giorgia Longo
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Katia Polato
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Samuela Francescato
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Alessandra Biffi
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Martina Pigazzi
- Pediatric Haematology-Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell and Gene Therapy Division, Woman and Child Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Porcù E, Benetton M, Bisio V, Da Ros A, Tregnago C, Borella G, Zanon C, Bordi M, Germano G, Manni S, Campello S, Rao DS, Locatelli F, Pigazzi M. The long non-coding RNA CDK6-AS1 overexpression impacts on acute myeloid leukemia differentiation and mitochondrial dynamics. iScience 2021; 24:103350. [PMID: 34816103 PMCID: PMC8591413 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) carrying high-risk genetic lesions or high residual disease levels after therapy are particularly exposed to the risk of relapse. Here, we identified the long non-coding RNA CDK6-AS1 able to cluster an AML subgroup with peculiar gene signatures linked to hematopoietic cell differentiation and mitochondrial dynamics. CDK6-AS1 silencing triggered hematopoietic commitment in healthy CD34+ cells, whereas in AML cells the pathological undifferentiated state was rescued. This latter phenomenon derived from RUNX1 transcriptional control, responsible for the stemness of hematopoietic precursors and for the block of differentiation in AML. By CDK6-AS1 silencing in vitro, AML mitochondrial mass decreased with augmented pharmacological sensitivity to mitochondria-targeting drugs. In vivo, the combination of tigecycline and cytarabine reduced leukemia progression in the AML-PDX model with high CDK6-AS1 levels, supporting the concept of a mitochondrial vulnerability. Together, these findings uncover CDK6-AS1 as crucial in myeloid differentiation and mitochondrial mass regulation. CDK6-AS1 acts in concert with CDK6 High CDK6-AS1 levels trigger RUNX1 early differentiation arrest in myeloid cells CDK6-AS1 controls mitochondrial mass of AML blasts CDK6-AS1 levels impact on mitochondrial-targeted agents sensitivity
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Porcù
- Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell&Gene Therapy Division of Women's and Children's Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Via N. Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Maddalena Benetton
- Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell&Gene Therapy Division of Women's and Children's Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Via N. Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Valeria Bisio
- Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell&Gene Therapy Division of Women's and Children's Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Via N. Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Ambra Da Ros
- Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell&Gene Therapy Division of Women's and Children's Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Via N. Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Claudia Tregnago
- Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell&Gene Therapy Division of Women's and Children's Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Via N. Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Giulia Borella
- Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell&Gene Therapy Division of Women's and Children's Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Via N. Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Carlo Zanon
- Pediatric Onco-Hematology, Stem Cell Transplant and Gene Therapy Laboratory, Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica - Città della Speranza, 35127 Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Bordi
- Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy.,Department of Pediatric Hemato-Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, IRCCS Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, 00143 Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Germano
- Pediatric Onco-Hematology, Stem Cell Transplant and Gene Therapy Laboratory, Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica - Città della Speranza, 35127 Padova, Italy
| | - Sabrina Manni
- Department of Medicine, Hematology and Clinical Immunology Branch, University of Padova, Padova, and Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), 35129 Padova, Italy
| | - Silvia Campello
- Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Dinesh S Rao
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Franco Locatelli
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, IRCCS Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00165 Roma, Italy
| | - Martina Pigazzi
- Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Cell&Gene Therapy Division of Women's and Children's Health Department, University-Hospital of Padova, Via N. Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy.,Pediatric Onco-Hematology, Stem Cell Transplant and Gene Therapy Laboratory, Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica - Città della Speranza, 35127 Padova, Italy
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Tsakaneli A, Williams O. Drug Repurposing for Targeting Acute Leukemia With KMT2A ( MLL)-Gene Rearrangements. Front Pharmacol 2021; 12:741413. [PMID: 34594227 PMCID: PMC8478155 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2021.741413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The treatment failure rates of acute leukemia with rearrangements of the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene highlight the need for novel therapeutic approaches. Taking into consideration the limitations of the current therapies and the advantages of novel strategies for drug discovery, drug repurposing offers valuable opportunities to identify treatments and develop therapeutic approaches quickly and effectively for acute leukemia with MLL-rearrangements. These approaches are complimentary to de novo drug discovery and have taken advantage of increased knowledge of the mechanistic basis of MLL-fusion protein complex function as well as refined drug repurposing screens. Despite the vast number of different leukemia associated MLL-rearrangements, the existence of common core oncogenic pathways holds the promise that many such therapies will be broadly applicable to MLL-rearranged leukemia as a whole.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexia Tsakaneli
- Cancer Section, Developmental Biology and Cancer Programme, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Owen Williams
- Cancer Section, Developmental Biology and Cancer Programme, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Colturato-Kido C, Lopes RM, Medeiros HCD, Costa CA, Prado-Souza LFL, Ferraz LS, Rodrigues T. Inhibition of Autophagy Enhances the Antitumor Effect of Thioridazine in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells. Life (Basel) 2021; 11:life11040365. [PMID: 33923896 PMCID: PMC8073363 DOI: 10.3390/life11040365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Revised: 04/15/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an aggressive malignant disorder of lymphoid progenitor cells that affects children and adults. Despite the high cure rates, drug resistance still remains a significant clinical problem, which stimulates the development of new therapeutic strategies and drugs to improve the disease outcome. Antipsychotic phenothiazines have emerged as potential candidates to be repositioned as antitumor drugs. It was previously shown that the anti-histaminic phenothiazine derivative promethazine induced autophagy-associated cell death in chronic myeloid leukemia cells, although autophagy can act as a "double-edged sword" contributing to cell survival or cell death. Here we evaluated the role of autophagy in thioridazine (TR)-induced cell death in the human ALL model. TR induced apoptosis in ALL Jurkat cells and it was not cytotoxic to normal peripheral mononuclear blood cells. TR promoted the activation of caspase-8 and -3, which was associated with increased NOXA/MCL-1 ratio and autophagy triggering. AMPK/PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPK/ERK pathways are involved in TR-induced cell death. The inhibition of the autophagic process enhanced the cytotoxicity of TR in Jurkat cells, highlighting autophagy as a targetable process for drug development purposes in ALL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Colturato-Kido
- Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André 09210-580, São Paulo, Brazil; (C.C.-K.); (R.M.L.); (H.C.D.M.); (L.F.L.P.-S.); (L.S.F.)
| | - Rayssa M. Lopes
- Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André 09210-580, São Paulo, Brazil; (C.C.-K.); (R.M.L.); (H.C.D.M.); (L.F.L.P.-S.); (L.S.F.)
| | - Hyllana C. D. Medeiros
- Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André 09210-580, São Paulo, Brazil; (C.C.-K.); (R.M.L.); (H.C.D.M.); (L.F.L.P.-S.); (L.S.F.)
| | - Claudia A. Costa
- Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Bioquímica (CIIB), Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes (UMC), Mogi das Cruzes 08780-911, São Paulo, Brazil;
| | - Laura F. L. Prado-Souza
- Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André 09210-580, São Paulo, Brazil; (C.C.-K.); (R.M.L.); (H.C.D.M.); (L.F.L.P.-S.); (L.S.F.)
| | - Letícia S. Ferraz
- Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André 09210-580, São Paulo, Brazil; (C.C.-K.); (R.M.L.); (H.C.D.M.); (L.F.L.P.-S.); (L.S.F.)
| | - Tiago Rodrigues
- Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André 09210-580, São Paulo, Brazil; (C.C.-K.); (R.M.L.); (H.C.D.M.); (L.F.L.P.-S.); (L.S.F.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +55-(11)-4996-8371
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