TY - JOUR
T1 - Pivotal role of mitophagy in response of acute myelogenous leukemia to a ceramide-tamoxifen-containing drug regimen
AU - Morad, Samy A.F.
AU - MacDougall, Matthew R.
AU - Abdelmageed, Noha
AU - Kao, Li Pin
AU - Feith, David J.
AU - Tan, Su Fern
AU - Kester, Mark
AU - Loughran, Thomas P.
AU - Wang, Hong Gang
AU - Cabot, Myles C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NCI) P01 CA171983 , and by a grant from the Brody Brothers Foundation , Kinston, NC.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2019/8/15
Y1 - 2019/8/15
N2 - Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy marked by the accumulation of large numbers of immature myeloblasts in bone marrow. The overall prognosis in AML is poor; hence, there is a pressing need to improve treatment. Although the sphingolipid (SL) ceramide demonstrates known cancer suppressor properties, it's mechanism of action is multifaceted. Our studies in leukemia and other cancers have demonstrated that when combined with the antiestrogen, tamoxifen, the apoptosis-inducting effect of ceramide is greatly enhanced. The goal of the present study was to establish whether a ceramide-tamoxifen regimen also affects autophagic-driven cellular responses in leukemia. Using the human AML cell line KG-1, we demonstrate that, unlike exposure to the single agents, combination C6-ceramide-tamoxifen upregulated LC3-II expression, inhibited the mTOR signaling pathway, and synergistically induced KG-1 cell death in an Atg5-dependent manner. In addition, colocalization of autophagosome and mitochondria, indicative of mitophagosome formation and mitophagy, was observed. Versatility of the drug regimen was confirmed by experiments in MV4-11 cells, a FLT3-ITD AML mutant. These results indicate that the C6-ceramide-tamoxifen regimen plays a pivotal role inducing autophagy in AML, and thus constitutes a novel therapeutic design.
AB - Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy marked by the accumulation of large numbers of immature myeloblasts in bone marrow. The overall prognosis in AML is poor; hence, there is a pressing need to improve treatment. Although the sphingolipid (SL) ceramide demonstrates known cancer suppressor properties, it's mechanism of action is multifaceted. Our studies in leukemia and other cancers have demonstrated that when combined with the antiestrogen, tamoxifen, the apoptosis-inducting effect of ceramide is greatly enhanced. The goal of the present study was to establish whether a ceramide-tamoxifen regimen also affects autophagic-driven cellular responses in leukemia. Using the human AML cell line KG-1, we demonstrate that, unlike exposure to the single agents, combination C6-ceramide-tamoxifen upregulated LC3-II expression, inhibited the mTOR signaling pathway, and synergistically induced KG-1 cell death in an Atg5-dependent manner. In addition, colocalization of autophagosome and mitochondria, indicative of mitophagosome formation and mitophagy, was observed. Versatility of the drug regimen was confirmed by experiments in MV4-11 cells, a FLT3-ITD AML mutant. These results indicate that the C6-ceramide-tamoxifen regimen plays a pivotal role inducing autophagy in AML, and thus constitutes a novel therapeutic design.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.yexcr.2019.05.021
DO - 10.1016/j.yexcr.2019.05.021
M3 - Article
C2 - 31112736
AN - SCOPUS:85065902411
VL - 381
SP - 256
EP - 264
JO - Experimental Cell Research
JF - Experimental Cell Research
SN - 0014-4827
IS - 2
ER -