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CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling mediates niche occupancy and tumor maintenance in T-cell leukemia

ABSTRACT: T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematological malignancy characterized by infiltration of the bone marrow and other sites with transformed T cell progenitors. The role of tissue microenvironments in the pathogenesis of T-ALL or any other type of acute leukemia is little understood. In delineating interactions between T-ALL cells and their environment, we initially found that T-ALL cells express high surface levels of the chemokine receptor CXCR4. Intravital imaging of an intact tibia revealed T-ALL cells in direct contact with bone marrow stromal cells producing the CXCR4 ligand, CXCL12. Genetic targeting of CXCR4 on T-ALL cells resulted in a marked reduction of leukemia burden and prolonged disease remission, and disruption of the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis using small molecule inhibitors prevented T-ALL progression in a primary xenograft model. Finally, we were able to show that CXCR4 inhibition significantly decreased expression of Myc and its target genes. Myc expression is a key regulator of T-ALL leukemia initiating cell (LIC) activity, suggesting that CXCR4 inhibition can suppress LIC activity by silencing the Myc response in T-ALL cells. Our data suggest that targeting of CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling could be a powerful new tool for combating T-ALL, a disease with no current targeted therapies.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE60367 | GEO | 2015/08/12

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA258103

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematological malignancy characterized by infiltration of the bone marrow and other sites with transformed T cell progenitors. The role of tissue microenvironments in the pathogenesis of T-ALL or any other type of acute leukemia is little understood. In delineating interactions between T-ALL cells and their environment, we initially found that T-ALL cells express high surface levels of the chemokine receptor CXCR4. Intravital imaging of an intact tibia revealed T-ALL cells in direct contact with bone marrow stromal cells producing the CXCR4 ligand, CXCL12. Genetic targeting of CXCR4 on T-ALL cells resulted in a marked reduction of leukemia burden and prolonged disease remission, and disruption of the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis using small molecule inhibitors prevented T-ALL progression in a primary xenograft model. Finally, we were able to show that CXCR4 inhibition significantly decreased expression of Myc and its target genes. Myc expression is a key regulator of T-ALL leukemia initiating cell (LIC) activity, suggesting that CXCR4 inhibition can suppress LIC activity by silencing the Myc response in T-ALL cells. Our data suggest that targeting of CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling could be a powerful new tool for combating T-ALL, a disease with no current targeted therapies. Mouse T-ALL cells were treated ex vivo with Cxcr4 inhibitor AMD3100 or vehicle control. Additionally, mouse T-ALL primary tumors were isolated from control (Cxcr4+/+) or knockout (Cxcr4-/-) animals. Total RNA was extracted from samples using the RNeasy Plus Mini Kit (Qiagen). Samples were then subject to PolyA selection using oligo-dT beads (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The resulting RNA samples were then used as input for library construction using the dUTP method as described by Parkhomchuck et al., 2009. RNA libraries were then sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 using 50bp single-end reads.

Project description:The chemokine CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 play important roles in signaling and migration of T-cells, but little is known about the transcriptional events involved in CXCL12-mediated T-cell migration. In this study we performed microarray analysis on CXCL12- treated T-cells, and found that the Wnt family of proteins was significantly upregulated during CXCL12 treatment. Confirmation of these results by real-time PCR and Western analysis indicated that the non-canonical Wnt pathway was specifically upregulated during CXCL12 treatment. In vitro and in vivo knockdown studies confirm that b-catenin (the key mediator of canonical Wnt signaling) is not involved in the CXCL12-mediated migration of T-cells. However, Wnt5A, a non-canonical Wnt protein, increases signaling through the CXCL12/ CXCR4 axis via Protein Kinase C (PKC). Our results demonstrated that CXCL12 required Wnt5A to mediate T-cell migration, and the treatment of T-cells with recombinant Wnt5A sensitized T-cells to CXCL12 induced migration. Additionally, Wnt5A expression was required for the sustained expression of CXCR4, both transcriptionally and translationally. These results could be translated in vivo, using EL4 thymoma metastasis as a model of T-cell migration. Taken together our data indicate, for the first time, that Wnt5A is a critical mediator of the CXCL12/ CXCR4 signaling axis. Experiment Overall Design: Primary T cells were treated with human CXCL12 (Peprotech, Rocky Hill, NJ) at 100 ng/ml per 10 million cells overnight in a humidified incubator at 37ÂºC with 5% CO2. Control cells were incubated in media only. Cells were harvested and washed with ice cold PBS for 2 times followed by the addition of ice cold TRIzol (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) and frozen at -80ÂºC overnight. Total RNA was isolated using the RNA isolation kit manufactured by Qiagen (Valencia, CA). The cDNA was prepared from equal amount of RNA using a cDNA preparation kit (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) followed by preparation of cRNA according to manufacturerâs instructions (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA). The cRNA was amplified and labeled with either Cy-3 or Cy-5, using the Agilent low-input linear amplification kit, according to manufacturerâs protocols. Labeled cRNA were applied to the Human 44K whole genome oligo array slides (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA). Slides were hybridized in a rotating chamber overnight at 60ÂºC in 6X SSC. Next day, slides were washed with 0.005% Triton X-102 for 10 minutes, and then in 0.1X SSC, 0.005% Triton X-102 for 5 minutes on ice. Slides were dried using a nitrogen-filled air gun, and scanned using an Agilent scanner. Images were analyzed using the Agilent Feature Extractor Software, Version A.7.5.1 and ratios for each spot were calculated.

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CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling mediates niche occupancy and tumor maintenance in T-cell leukemia

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