1
|
Tarighat SS, Fei F, Joo EJ, Abdel-Azim H, Yang L, Geng H, Bum-Erdene K, Grice ID, von Itzstein M, Blanchard H, Heisterkamp N. Overcoming Microenvironment-Mediated Chemoprotection through Stromal Galectin-3 Inhibition in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:12167. [PMID: 34830047 PMCID: PMC8624256 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222212167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmentally-mediated drug resistance in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) significantly contributes to relapse. Stromal cells in the bone marrow environment protect leukemia cells by secretion of chemokines as cues for BCP-ALL migration towards, and adhesion to, stroma. Stromal cells and BCP-ALL cells communicate through stromal galectin-3. Here, we investigated the significance of stromal galectin-3 to BCP-ALL cells. We used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to ablate galectin-3 in stromal cells and found that galectin-3 is dispensable for steady-state BCP-ALL proliferation and viability. However, efficient leukemia migration and adhesion to stromal cells are significantly dependent on stromal galectin-3. Importantly, the loss of stromal galectin-3 production sensitized BCP-ALL cells to conventional chemotherapy. We therefore tested novel carbohydrate-based small molecule compounds (Cpd14 and Cpd17) with high specificity for galectin-3. Consistent with results obtained using galectin-3-knockout stromal cells, treatment of stromal-BCP-ALL co-cultures inhibited BCP-ALL migration and adhesion. Moreover, these compounds induced anti-leukemic responses in BCP-ALL cells, including a dose-dependent reduction of viability and proliferation, the induction of apoptosis and, importantly, the inhibition of drug resistance. Collectively, these findings indicate galectin-3 regulates BCP-ALL cell responses to chemotherapy through the interactions between leukemia cells and the stroma, and show that a combination of galectin-3 inhibition with conventional drugs can sensitize the leukemia cells to chemotherapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Somayeh S. Tarighat
- Division of Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA; (S.S.T.); (F.F.); (E.J.J.); (H.A.-A.)
| | - Fei Fei
- Division of Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA; (S.S.T.); (F.F.); (E.J.J.); (H.A.-A.)
| | - Eun Ji Joo
- Division of Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA; (S.S.T.); (F.F.); (E.J.J.); (H.A.-A.)
- Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Monrovia, CA 91016, USA;
| | - Hisham Abdel-Azim
- Division of Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA; (S.S.T.); (F.F.); (E.J.J.); (H.A.-A.)
| | - Lu Yang
- Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Monrovia, CA 91016, USA;
| | - Huimin Geng
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA;
| | - Khuchtumur Bum-Erdene
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; (K.B.-E.); (I.D.G.); (M.v.I.); (H.B.)
| | - I. Darren Grice
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; (K.B.-E.); (I.D.G.); (M.v.I.); (H.B.)
- School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Mark von Itzstein
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; (K.B.-E.); (I.D.G.); (M.v.I.); (H.B.)
| | - Helen Blanchard
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Southport, QLD 4222, Australia; (K.B.-E.); (I.D.G.); (M.v.I.); (H.B.)
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience and Molecular Horizons, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
- Illawarra Health & Medical Research Institute, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Nora Heisterkamp
- Division of Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA; (S.S.T.); (F.F.); (E.J.J.); (H.A.-A.)
- Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Monrovia, CA 91016, USA;
| |
Collapse
|