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| 2. |
- Chatzouli, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Heterogeneous Functional Effects of Concomitant B Cell Receptor and TLR Stimulation in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia with Mutated versus Unmutated Ig Genes
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Immunology. - : The American Association of Immunologists. - 0022-1767 .- 1550-6606. ; 192:10, s. 4518-4524
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We recently reported that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) subgroups with distinct clonotypic BCRs present discrete patterns of TLR expression, function, and/ or tolerance. In this study, to explore whether specific types of BCR/TLR collaboration exist in CLL, we studied the effect of single versus concomitant BCR and/or TLR stimulation on CLL cells from mutated (M-CLL) and unmutated CLL (U-CLL) cases. We stimulated negatively isolated CLL cells by using anti-IgM, imiquimod, and CpG oligodeoxynucleotide for BCR, TLR7, and TLR9, respectively, alone or in combination for different time points. After in vitro culture in the absence of stimulation, differences in p-ERK were identified at any time point, with higher p-ERK levels in U-CLL versus M-CLL. Pronounced p-ERK induction was seen by single stimulation in U-CLL, whereas BCR/TLR synergism was required in M-CLL, in which the effect was overall limited in scale. An opposite pattern was observed regarding induction of apoptosis, as studied by Western blotting for the cleaved fragment of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and the active isoform of caspase-8, with M-CLL responding even to single stimulation, contrasting with U-CLL that showed minimal response. Our findings suggest that concomitant engagement of BCR and TLR leads to differential responses in CLL depending on the mutational status of the BCR. Differential intensity and duration of responses in M-CLL versus U-CLL indicates that the differences in signal transduction between the two subgroups may be primarily quantitative rather than qualitative.
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| 4. |
- Gounari, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Excessive antigen reactivity may underlie the clinical aggressiveness of chronic lymphocytic leukemia stereotyped subset #8
- 2015
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Ingår i: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 0006-4971 .- 1528-0020. ; 125:23, s. 3580-3587
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Subset #8 is a distinctive subset of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) defined by the expression of stereotyped IGHV4-39/IGKV1(D)-39 B-cell receptors. Subset #8 patients experience aggressive disease and exhibit the highest risk for Richter transformation among all CLL. In order to obtain biological insight into this behavior, we profiled the antigen reactivity and signaling capacity of subset #8 vs other clinically aggressive stereotyped subsets, namely subsets #1 and #2. Twenty-seven monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from subsets #1, #2, and #8 CLL clones were prepared as recombinant human immunoglobulin G1 and used as primary antibodies in enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assays against representatives of the major classes of established antigenic targets for CLL. Subset #8 CLL mAbs exhibited broad polyreactivity as they bound to all antigens tested, in clear contrast with the mAbs from the other subsets. Antigen challenge of primary CLL cells indicated that the promiscuous antigen-binding activity of subset #8 mAbs could lead to significant cell activation, again in contrast to the less responsive CLL cells from subsets #1 and #2. These features constitute a distinctive profile for CLL subset #8, supporting the existence of distinct mechanisms of aggressiveness in different immunogenetic subsets of CLL.
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| 5. |
- Kanduri, Meena, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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A key role for EZH2 in epigenetic silencing of HOX genes in mantle cell lymphoma
- 2013
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Ingår i: Epigenetics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1559-2294 .- 1559-2308. ; 8:12, s. 1280-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The chromatin modifier EZH2 is overexpressed and associated with inferior outcome in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Recently, we demonstrated preferential DNA methylation of HOX genes in MCL compared with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), despite these genes not being expressed in either entity. Since EZH2 has been shown to regulate HOX gene expression, to gain further insight into its possible role in differential silencing of HOX genes in MCL vs. CLL, we performed detailed epigenetic characterization using representative cell lines and primary samples. We observed significant overexpression of EZH2 in MCL vs. CLL. Chromatin immune precipitation (ChIP) assays revealed that EZH2 catalyzed repressive H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), which was sufficient to silence HOX genes in CLL, whereas in MCL H3K27me3 is accompanied by DNA methylation for a more stable repression. More importantly, hypermethylation of the HOX genes in MCL resulted from EZH2 overexpression and subsequent recruitment of the DNA methylation machinery onto HOX gene promoters. The importance of EZH2 upregulation in this process was further underscored by siRNA transfection and EZH2 inhibitor experiments. Altogether, these observations implicate EZH2 in the long-term silencing of HOX genes in MCL, and allude to its potential as a therapeutic target with clinical impact.
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| 6. |
- Kontopoulos, Efstratios, et al.
(författare)
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Studying the Cohesion Evolution of Genes Related to Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Using Semantic Similarity in Gene Ontology and Self-Organizing Maps
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SWAT4LS-16, 9th International Conference on Semantic Web Applications and Tools for Life Sciences.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A significant body of work on biomedical text mining is aimed at uncovering meaningful associations between biological entities, including genes. This has the potential to offer new insights for research, uncovering hidden links between genes involved in critical pathways and processes. Recently, high-throughput studies have started to unravel the genetic landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common adult leukemia. CLL displays remarkable clinical heterogeneity, likely reflecting its underlying biological heterogeneity which, despite all progress, still remains insufficiently characterized and understood. This paper deploys an ontology-based semantic similarity combined with self-organizing maps for studying the temporal evolution of cohesion among CLL-related genes and the extracted information. Three consecutive time periods are considered and groups of genes are derived therein. Our preliminary results indicated that our proposed gene groupings are meaningful and that the temporal dimension indeed impacted the gene cohesion, leaving a lot of room for further promising investigations.
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| 8. |
- Mansouri, Larry, et al.
(författare)
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NF-kappa B activation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia : A point of convergence of external triggers and intrinsic lesions
- 2016
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Ingår i: Seminars in Cancer Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1044-579X .- 1096-3650. ; 39, s. 40-48
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) pathway is constitutively activated in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients, and hence plays a major role in disease development and evolution. In contrast to many other mature B-cell lymphomas, only a few recurrently mutated genes involved in canonical or non-canonical NF-kappa B activation have been identified in CLL (i.e. BIRC3, MYD88 and NFKBIE mutations) and often at a low frequency. On the other hand, CLL B cells seem 'addicted' to the tumor microenvironment for their survival and proliferation, which is primarily mediated by interaction through a number of cell surface receptors, e.g. the B-cell receptor (BcR), Toll-like receptors and CD40, that in turn activate downstream NF-kappa B. The importance of cell-extrinsic triggering for CLL pathophysiology was recently also highlighted by the clinical efficacy of novel drugs targeting microenvironmental interactions through the inhibition of BcR signaling. In other words, CLL can be considered a prototype disease for studying the intricate interplay between external triggers and intrinsic aberrations and their combined impact on disease evolution. In this review, we will discuss the current understanding of mechanisms underlying NF-kappa B deregulation in CLL, including micro-environmental, genetic and epigenetic events, and summarize data generated in murine models resembling human CLL. Finally, we will also discuss different strategies undertaken to intervene with the NF-kappa B pathway and its upstream mediators.
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| 9. |
- Ntoufa, Stavroula, et al.
(författare)
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B Cell Anergy Modulated by TLR1/2 and the miR-17 similar to 92 Cluster Underlies the Indolent Clinical Course of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Stereotyped Subset #4
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Immunology. - : The American Association of Immunologists. - 0022-1767 .- 1550-6606. ; 196:10, s. 4410-4417
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients assigned to stereotyped subset #4 (mutated IGHV4-34/IGKV2-30 BCR Ig) display a particularly indolent disease course. Immunogenetic studies of the clonotypic BCR Ig of CLL subset #4 suggested a resemblance with B cells rendered anergic through chronic autoantigenic stimulation. In this article, we provide experimental evidence that subset #4 CLL cells show low IgG levels, constitutive ERK1/2 activation, and fail to either release intracellular Ca2+ or activate MAPK signaling after BCR cross-linking, thus displaying a signature of B cell anergy at both biochemical and functional levels. Interestingly, TLR1/2 triggering restored BCR functionality, likely breaching the anergic state, and this was accompanied by induction of the miR17 similar to 92 cluster, whose members target critical BCR-associated molecules, including MAPKs. In conclusion, we demonstrate BCR anergy in CLL subset #4 and implicate TLR signaling and the miR-17 similar to 92 cluster in the regulation of the anergic state. This detailed signaling profiling of subset #4 has implications for advanced understanding of the complex regulation of intracellular signaling pathways in CLL, currently a major therapeutic target of the disease.
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