| 17376892 |
Troeger A, Schmitz I, Siepermann M, Glouchkova L, Gerdemann U, Janka-Schaub GE, Schulze-Osthoff K, Dilloo D: Up-regulation of c-FLIPS+R upon CD40 stimulation is associated with inhibition of CD95-induced apoptosis in primary precursor B-ALL. Blood. 2007 Jul 1;110(1):384-7. Epub 2007 Mar 21.
Previous studies on apoptosis defects in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have focused on chemotherapy-induced, primarily mitochondrial death pathways. Yet, immunologic surveillance mechanisms including sensitization to apoptotic signals mediated via the death receptor CD95 might contribute to leukemic control. Here, we show that primary B-cell precursor ALL cells from children escape from receptor-dependent cell death in 2 ways: Resting ALL blasts are protected from receptor-mediated apoptosis due to the absence of CD95 surface expression. However, even though CD40 ligation results in up-regulation of CD95, ALL blasts, unlike normal B cells, remain resistant to apoptosis. We show that this apoptosis resistance involves the selective up-regulation of the short isoforms of the caspase-8 inhibitor c-FLIP acting directly at the CD95 receptor level. Treatment with cycloheximide during CD40 activation prevents up-regulation of those c-FLIP isoforms and sensitizes ALL cells toward CD95-mediated apoptosis. We therefore propose that induction of the short c-FLIP isoforms inhibits the onset of CD95-induced apoptosis in primary CD40-stimulated ALL cells despite high CD95 expression. |
1(0,0,0,1) |