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Mantione ME, Meloni M, Sana I, Bordini J, Del Nero M, Riba M, Ranghetti P, Perotta E, Ghia P, Scarfò L, Muzio M. Disrupting pro-survival and inflammatory pathways with dimethyl fumarate sensitizes chronic lymphocytic leukemia to cell death. Cell Death Dis 2024; 15:224. [PMID: 38494482 PMCID: PMC10944843 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-024-06602-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Microenvironmental signals strongly influence chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells through the activation of distinct membrane receptors, such as B-cell receptors, and inflammatory receptors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs). Inflammatory pathways downstream of these receptors lead to NF-κB activation, thus protecting leukemic cells from apoptosis. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is an anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory drug used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis and psoriasis in which it blocks aberrant NF-κB pathways and impacts the NRF2 antioxidant circuit. Our in vitro analysis demonstrated that increasing concentrations of DMF reduce ATP levels and lead to the apoptosis of CLL cells, including cell lines, splenocytes from Eµ-TCL1-transgenic mice, and primary leukemic cells isolated from the peripheral blood of patients. DMF showed a synergistic effect in association with BTK inhibitors in CLL cells. DMF reduced glutathione levels and activated the NRF2 pathway; gene expression analysis suggested that DMF downregulated pathways related to NFKB and inflammation. In primary leukemic cells, DMF disrupted the TLR signaling pathways induced by CpG by reducing the mRNA expression of NFKBIZ, IL6, IL10 and TNFα. Our data suggest that DMF targets a vulnerability of CLL cells linked to their inflammatory pathways, without impacting healthy donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Elena Mantione
- Cell Signaling Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Miriam Meloni
- Cell Signaling Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Ilenia Sana
- Cell Signaling Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Jessica Bordini
- B-cell Neoplasia Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Martina Del Nero
- Cell Signaling Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Michela Riba
- Center for Omics Sciences, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Pamela Ranghetti
- B-cell Neoplasia Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Eleonora Perotta
- B-cell Neoplasia Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Paolo Ghia
- B-cell Neoplasia Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Lydia Scarfò
- B-cell Neoplasia Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
- Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
| | - Marta Muzio
- Cell Signaling Unit, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy.
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Del Nero M, Colombo A, Garbujo S, Baioni C, Barbieri L, Innocenti M, Prosperi D, Colombo M, Fiandra L. Advanced Cell Culture Models Illuminate the Interplay between Mammary Tumor Cells and Activated Fibroblasts. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15:cancers15092498. [PMID: 37173963 PMCID: PMC10177476 DOI: 10.3390/cancers15092498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The interaction between tumor cells and activated fibroblasts determines malignant features of desmoplastic carcinomas such as rapid growth, progression towards a metastatic phenotype, and resistance to chemotherapy. On one hand, tumor cells can activate normal fibroblasts and even reprogram them into CAFs through complex mechanisms that also involve soluble factors. Among them, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) have an established role in the acquisition of pro-tumorigenic phenotypes by fibroblasts. On the other hand, activated fibroblasts release Interleukin-6 (IL-6), which increases tumor-cell invasiveness and chemoresistance. However, the interplay between breast cancer cells and fibroblasts, as well as the modes of action of TGF-β, PDGF, and IL-6, are difficult to investigate in vivo. Here, we validated the usage of advanced cell culture models as tools to study the interplay between mammary tumor cells and fibroblasts, taking mouse and human triple-negative tumor cells and fibroblasts as a case study. We employed two different settings, one permitting only paracrine signaling, the other both paracrine and cell-contact-based signaling. These co-culture systems allowed us to unmask how TGF-β, PDGF and IL-6 mediate the interplay between mammary tumor cells and fibroblasts. We found that the fibroblasts underwent activation induced by the TGF-β and the PDGF produced by the tumor cells, which increased their proliferation and IL-6 secretion. The IL-6 secreted by activated fibroblasts enhanced tumor-cell proliferation and chemoresistance. These results show that these breast cancer avatars possess an unexpected high level of complexity, which resembles that observed in vivo. As such, advanced co-cultures provide a pathologically relevant tractable system to study the role of the TME in breast cancer progression with a reductionist approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Del Nero
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Alessandro Colombo
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Stefania Garbujo
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Baioni
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Linda Barbieri
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Metello Innocenti
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Davide Prosperi
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Miriam Colombo
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
| | - Luisa Fiandra
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy
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