BCL-XL inhibition by BH3-mimetic drugs induces apoptosis in models of Epstein-Barr virus-associated T/NK-cell lymphoma
- Author(s)
- Sejic, N; George, LC; Tierney, RJ; Chang, C; Kondrashova, O; MacKinnon, RN; Lan, P; Bell, AI; Lessene, G; Long, HM; Strasser, A; Shannon-Lowe, C; Kelly, GL;
- Details
- Publication Year 2020-10-13,Volume 4,Issue #19,Page 4775-4787
- Journal Title
- Blood Advances
- Publication Type
- Journal Article
- Abstract
- Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated T- and natural killer (NK)-cell malignancies, such as extranodal NK-/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL), exhibit high chemoresistance and, accordingly, such patients have a poor prognosis. The rare nature of such cancers and nonmalignant T/NK lymphoproliferative disorders, such as chronic active EBV (CAEBV), has limited our understanding of the pathogenesis of these diseases. Here, we characterize a panel of ENKTL- and CAEBV-derived cell lines that had been established from human tumors to be used as preclinical models of these diseases. These cell lines were interleukin-2 dependent and found to carry EBV in a latency II gene-expression pattern. All cell lines demonstrated resistance to cell death induction by DNA damage-inducing agents, the current standard of care for patients with these malignancies. This resistance was not correlated with the function of the multidrug efflux pump, P-glycoprotein. However, apoptotic cell death could be consistently induced following treatment with A-1331852, a BH3-mimetic drug that specifically inhibits the prosurvival protein BCL-XL. A-1331852-induced apoptosis was most efficacious when prosurvival MCL-1 was additionally targeted, either by BH3-mimetics or genetic deletion. Xenograft models established from the ENKTL cell line SNK6 provided evidence that A-1331852 treatment could be therapeutically beneficial in vivo. The data here suggest that therapeutic targeting of BCL-XL would be effective for patients with EBV-driven T/NK proliferative diseases, however, MCL-1 could be a potential resistance factor.
- Publisher
- ASH
- Research Division(s)
- Blood Cells And Blood Cancer; Chemical Biology
- PubMed ID
- 33017468
- Publisher's Version
- https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002446
- Open Access at Publisher's Site
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Creation Date: 2020-10-17 02:40:38
Last Modified: 2020-11-03 10:22:03