Extracellular ATP induces apoptosis through P2X7R activation in acute myeloid leukemia cells but not in normal hematopoietic stem cells.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies have shown that high ATP levels exhibit direct cytotoxic effects on several cancer cells types. Among the receptors engaged by ATP, P2X7R is the most consistently expressed by tumors. P2X7R is an ATP-gated ion channel that could drive the opening of a non-selective pore, triggering cell-death signal. We previously demonstrated that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells express high level of P2X7R. Here, we show that P2X7R activation with high dose ATP induces AML blast cells apoptosis. Moreover, P2X7R is also expressed on leukemic stem/progenitor cells (LSCs) which are sensitive to ATP-mediated cytotoxicity. Conversely, this cytotoxic effect was not observed on normal hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSCs). Notably, the antileukemic activity of ATP was also observed in pres

SUBMITTER: Salvestrini V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5351599 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature