Targeting EIF4E signaling with ribavirin in infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

ABSTRACT: The poor outcomes in infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) necessitate new treatments. Here we discover that EIF4E protein is elevated in most cases of infant ALL and test EIF4E targeting by the repurposed antiviral agent ribavirin, which has anticancer properties through EIF4E inhibition, as a potential treatment. We find that ribavirin treatment of actively dividing infant ALL cells on bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) at clinically achievable concentrations causes robust proliferation inhibition in proportion with EIF4E expression. Further, we find that ribavirin treatment of KMT2A-rearranged (KMT2A-R) infant ALL cells and the KMT2A-AFF1 cell line RS4:11 inhibits EIF4E, leading to decreases in oncogenic EIF4E-regulated cell growth and survival proteins. In ribavirin-sensitive KMT2A-

SUBMITTER: Urtishak KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6440839 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature