UMMS Affiliation
Department of Cancer Biology; Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology; UMass Metabolic Network
Publication Date
2017-05-30
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Biochemistry | Cancer Biology | Cell Biology | Cellular and Molecular Physiology | Molecular Biology
Abstract
While outcomes for children with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) have improved dramatically, survival rates for patients with relapsed/refractory disease remain dismal. Prior studies indicate that glucocorticoid (GC) resistance is more common than resistance to other chemotherapies at relapse. In addition, failure to clear peripheral blasts during a prednisone prophase correlates with an elevated risk of relapse in newly diagnosed patients. Here we show that intrinsic GC resistance is present at diagnosis in early thymic precursor (ETP) T-ALLs as well as in a subset of non-ETP T-ALLs. GC-resistant non-ETP T-ALLs are characterized by strong induction of JAK/STAT signaling in response to interleukin-7 (IL7) stimulation. Removing IL7 or inhibiting JAK/STAT signaling sensitizes these T-ALLs, and a subset of ETP T-ALLs, to GCs. The combination of the GC dexamethasone and the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib altered the balance between pro- and anti-apoptotic factors in samples with IL7-dependent GC resistance, but not in samples with IL7-independent GC resistance. Together, these data suggest that the addition of ruxolitinib or other inhibitors of IL7 receptor/JAK/STAT signaling may enhance the efficacy of GCs in a biologically defined subset of T-ALL.
Keywords
T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, T-ALL, glucocorticoid resistance, JAK/STAT
DOI of Published Version
10.1038/leu.2017.136
Source
Leukemia. 2017 May 30. doi: 10.1038/leu.2017.136. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Leukemia
Related Resources
PubMed ID
28484265
Repository Citation
Delgado-Martin, C.; Meyer, L. K.; Huang, B. J.; Zinter, M. S.; Nguyen, J. V.; Smith, G. A.; Taunton, J.; Winter, S. S.; Roderick, Justine R.; Kelliher, Michelle A.; Horton, T. M.; Wood, B. L.; Teachey, D. T.; and Hermiston, M. L., "JAK/STAT pathway inhibition overcomes IL7-induced glucocorticoid resistance in a subset of human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias" (2017). UMass Metabolic Network Publications. 116.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/metnet_pubs/116
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Biochemistry Commons, Cancer Biology Commons, Cell Biology Commons, Cellular and Molecular Physiology Commons, Molecular Biology Commons