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BRIEF REPORT
From the Department of Blood and Marrow
Transplantation, Section of Molecular Hematology and Therapy, and
Department of Bioimmunotherapy, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; and Department of Biochemistry,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL.
Recent studies suggest that the Bcl-2 and mitogen-activated protein
kinase (MAPK) pathways together confer an aggressive, apoptosis-resistant phenotype on acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cells. In this study, we analyzed the effects of simultaneous inhibition of these 2 pathways. In AML cell lines with constitutively activated MAPK, MAPK kinase (MEK) blockade by PD184352 strikingly potentiated the apoptosis induced by the small-molecule Bcl-2 inhibitor
HA14-1 or by Bcl-2 antisense oligonucleotides. Isobologram analysis
confirmed the synergistic nature of this interaction. Moreover, MEK
blockade overcame Bcl-2 overexpression-mediated resistance to the
proapoptotic effects of HA14-1. Most importantly, simultaneous exposure
to PD184352 significantly (P = .01) potentiated HA14-1-mediated inhibition of clonogenic growth in all primary AML
samples tested. These findings show that the Bcl-2 and MAPK pathways
are relevant molecular targets in AML and that their concurrent
inhibition could be developed into a new therapeutic strategy for this disease.
(Blood. 2002;99:3461-3464) Leukemogenesis is a complex process involving
multiple genetic alterations that result in the abnormal regulation of
proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis of leukemic blasts,
leading to their accumulation.1 These aberrations also
affect the sensitivity of leukemic cells to chemotherapeutic agents
and, hence, the therapeutic outcome. Prior investigations by our group
and others have established Bcl-2 as an important prognostic factor in
acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)2,3 and have shown that
inhibition of Bcl-2 expression induces apoptosis and sensitizes AML
cells to chemotherapy.4,5 Recently, we have examined the
role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (mitogen-activated
protein kinase [MAPKK] or MAPK kinase [MEK])/extracellular
signal-regulated kinase (ERK, hereafter referred to as MAPK) pathway, a
key integration point in the signaling cascade regulated by growth
factor receptors.6 We have demonstrated that constitutive
MAPK activation is frequently found in primary AML samples (74% of the
cases), that it promotes AML cell growth and survival without affecting
Bcl-2 expression levels,7 and that it is independently
prognostic for survival in patients with AML (S.M.K., manuscript
submitted, September 2001). Albeit distinct, the Bcl-2 and MAPK
pathways may crosstalk with each other,8-10 jointly
contributing to leukemogenesis.11 Our recent evidence that
constitutive MAPK activation and low, antiapoptotic Bax/Bcl-2 ratios
together confer a uniformly poor prognosis on AML patients (S.M.K.,
manuscript submitted, September 2001) underscores the clinical
relevance of such crosstalk between antiapoptotic and growth-promoting
pathways and suggests that it could be exploited with therapeutic intent.
We therefore investigated whether the simultaneous inhibition of Bcl-2
(by the small-molecule inhibitor HA14-112 or antisense oligonucleotides [Bcl-2 AS]5) and MAPK function
(by the novel MEK inhibitor PD18435213) resulted in
increased antileukemic activity.
Cell cultures
Western blotting and apoptosis assays
Statistical analysis Synergism, additive effects, and antagonism were assessed using the Chou-Talalay method19 and Calcusyn software (Biosoft, Ferguson, MO). Briefly, the dose-effect curve for each drug alone was determined based on the experimental observations using the median-effect principle; the combination index (CI) for each experimental combination was then calculated according to the following equation:
Three AML cell lines with different degrees of MAPK activation
were used in this study. In OCI-AML3 (Figure
1A) and HL-60 cells, which show high
constitutive MAPK activity, PD184352 (10 µM) rapidly (1 hour)
abrogated MAPK phosphorylation by inhibiting the upstream kinase MEK.
Conversely, KG1 cells showed little, if any, constitutive MAPK
phosphorylation. However, PD184352 was able to abrogate phorbol
myristate acetate-induced MAPK activation in these cells (Figure 1A).
In OCI-AML3 and HL-60 cell lines, the simultaneous disruption of
Bax/Bcl-2 heterodimerization by HA14-1 and interruption of MEK-to-MAPK
signaling by PD184352 resulted in a striking decrease in cell viability
(48 hours; Figure 1B). Conversely, PD184352 did not significantly
modify the response of KG1 cells to HA14-1 (Figure 1B).
We then analyzed the apoptotic response of OCI-AML3 cells to HA14-1
alone or in combination with PD184352. Consistent with the disruption
of Bcl-2 function,20 HA14-1 (12.5 µM) induced rapid (2 hours) but transient mitochondrial depolarization, whereas caspase
activation was detected only after 24 hours and in a smaller fraction
of the cells (Figure 1C-D). Simultaneous treatment with PD184352 (1.25 µM) did not affect the early (2-6 hours) phase of HA14-1-induced
mitochondrial depolarization but strikingly potentiated both loss of
The kinetics of apoptotic events observed in response to HA14-1 alone
is consistent with previous results showing that mitochondrial depolarization alone, in the absence of caspase activation, cannot trigger a full apoptotic response.21 Preliminary data from
our group suggest that, in fact, AML cells that only lose
We further analyzed the pharmacologic interactions between HA14-1 and
PD184352 using a fixed-ratio experimental design and found that the
simultaneous disruption of both pathways resulted in the synergistic
(CI < 1.0) induction of apoptosis in cell lines showing constitutive
MAPK activation (OCI-AML3 and HL-60; Figure 2A). Moreover, the exploration of a wider
range of HA14-1 and PD184352 doses using different drug ratios (2:1 to
20:1) further confirmed the synergistic nature of this interaction
(Table 1). Conversely, the combination of
HA14-1 and PD184352 at a 10:1 ratio had a slightly antagonistic effect
in KG1 cells (CI > 1.2; Figure 2A and Table 1).
The specificity of the interaction between Bcl-2 and the MEK/MAPK module was further studied using liposome-delivered Bcl-2 AS.5 As shown in Figure 2B, the combination of Bcl-2 AS and PD184352 at a 8:1 ratio caused substantially more apoptosis than either agent alone. Isobologram analysis confirmed that the proapoptotic interaction between Bcl-2 AS and PD184352 was indeed synergistic (CI = 0.36 ± 0.03; Figure 2B inset). Moreover, while Bcl-2 overexpression produced by stable gene transfer increased the resistance of HL-60- to HA14-1-induced apoptosis (Figure 2C, left panels), this effect was overcome by simultaneous treatment with PD184352 (Figure 2C, right panels), which shifted the 90% effective dose (ED90) of HA14-1 from 32 µM to 22 µM (ED90 in parental HL-60 cells, 23 µM). Although widely used and undoubtedly useful as a model to conduct mechanistic studies, culture-adapted cell lines may not accurately reflect the behavior of patient-derived cancer cells.26 We therefore sought to confirm our cell line findings in primary AML samples. In all bone marrow samples tested in the AML blast clonogenic assay (n = 5), simultaneous exposure to a fixed concentration of PD184352 (1.25 µM) significantly potentiated the colony inhibitory effect of escalating doses of HA14-1 (6-12 µM; Figure 2D). With rare exceptions, neoplastic cell growth is the result of multiple genetic alterations27; therefore, any new clinically successful therapeutic strategies will most likely draw on the mechanism-based manipulation of multiple, crosstalking pathways involved in growth and survival control. From the standpoint of AML, our findings indicate that the simultaneous disruption of both the Bcl-2 and MAPK pathways synergistically induces apoptosis in cells showing constitutive MAPK activation. Because we have recently demonstrated that patients with AML with antiapoptotic Bax/Bcl-2 ratios and activated MAPK have a uniformly poor prognosis (S.M.K., manuscript submitted, September 2001), the disruption of the antiapoptotic crosstalk between the Bcl-2 and MAPK pathways could be usefully exploited for therapeutic purposes in a population of patients with AML that is currently the least responsive to conventional treatment strategies.
The authors thank Judith S. Sebolt-Leopold (Pfizer Global Research and Development) for kindly providing PD184352, Jennifer Jones and Matthew Womble for their help with primary AML samples, and Rosemarie Lauzon for her assistance with the manuscript.
Submitted September 27, 2001; accepted December 14, 2001.
Supported in part by NIH grants (P01 CA55164, P01 CA49639, CA16672), the Keck Foundation, and the Stringer Professorship for Cancer Treatment and Research (to M.A.).
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. Therefore, and solely to indicate this fact, this article is hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. section 1734.
Reprints: Michael Andreeff, Section of Molecular Hematology and Therapy, Department of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Holcombe Blvd, Box 448, Houston, TX 77030; e-mail: mandreef{at}mdanderson.org.
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