Influence of CD117 Expression on Response of Multiple Myeloma Patients to Chemotherapy / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the influence of CD117 expression on response of multiple myeloma patients to chemo-therapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 65 cases of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in our hospital from 2011 to 2013 were enrolled in this study. Cytogenetic abnormalities and immunophenotype were detected by using fluorescence in situ hybridization and flow cytometry before chemotherapy. The therapeutic efficacy of patients was evaluated after 4 cycles of PAD or TAD regimen.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rates of 1q21 amplification, RB1: 13q14 deletion, D13S319: 13q14.3 deletion, IgH: 14q32 rearrangement and p53: 17p13 deletion were 32.2%, 40%, 40%, 20% and 3.1% respectively; the positive rates of CD38, CD138, CD56, CD117, CD20 were respectively 100%, 100%, 60%, 20%, 10.8%; the positive rates of CD19 and CD10 were 4.6% and 4.6% respectively; the positive CD22, CD7, CD5, CD103 did not found in any patients. The therapeutic efficacy of CD117⁻ patients was better than that of CD117⁺ patients (P < 0.05), there was no correlation of the remaining indicators with efficacy; the proportion of CD117⁺ patients with β2-microglobulin ≥ 5.5 mg/L was significantly higher than that of CD117⁻ patients (P < 0.05); the rest of baseline data had no significant difference (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>CD117 can be used as an indicator for evaluating efficacy of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.</p>

Valproic Acid Represses Autophagy and Enhances the Anti-myeloma Activity of DNA-damaging Drugs / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effect of valproic acid(VPA) on anti-myeloma activity of Doxorubicin(DOX) or Melphalan(MEL) and its related mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Human multiple myeloma(MM) cells were treated with VPA of non-toxic dose in absence and presence of DOX or MEL at different concentrations (ie. IC10, IC20, IC40). The cell proliferation was detected by MTT method. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of autophagy-related proteins (LC3, ATG5, ATG7) and acetylated histone H4K16ac.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Cell proliferation inhibition markedly increased in VPA plus DOX or MEL as compared with DOX or MEL alone (P<0.05). Both LC3 and H4K16ac expression levels in co-treatment were between VPA and DOX or MEL treated alone. Importantly, VPA of non-toxic dose not only augmented the anti-myeloma activity of DOX or MEL, but also down-regulated the autophagy-related protein expression and increases H4K16ac protein levels.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>H4K16ac can inhibit the transcription of autophagy-related genes, The VPA enhance the anti-myeloma activity of DNA-damaging drugs, at least in part, via H4K16ac-mediated suppression of cytoprotective autophagy.</p>

Efficacy comparison between standard and reduced doses of bortezomib combined with adriamycin and dexamethasone in the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the efficacy and safety of standard or reduced doses of bortezomib combined with adriamycin and dexamethasone (PAD) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighty-two newly diagnosed or refractory/relapsed patients received bortezomib [either 1.2-1.3 mg/m(2) (standard dose) or 1.0-1.1 mg/m(2) (reduced dose) on day 1, 4, 8 and 11], and adriamycin (10 mg/m(2)) plus dexamethasone (40 mg/m(2)) on day 1-4 at 3-week intervals for 1 to 6 courses. The International Myeloma Working Group Criteria were used to evaluate the response. Adverse events were graded according to the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (Version 3.0).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two courses of standard dose of PAD resulted in a similar response rate of partial and very good partial complete remissions (PR) compared with reduced dose (80.0% vs 80.8%, P=0.728). Grade III- Ⅳ neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were higher with standard dose than that with reduced doses of PAD (21.1% vs11.1%, P=0.270; 10.5% vs 6.3%, P=0.619, respectively). Grade III-Ⅳ bortezomib-induced peripheral neuropathy, herpes zoster, fatigue or abdominal distention were significantly higher with standard dose than that with reduced dose of PAD (15.8% vs 1.6%, P=0.037; 26.3% vs 6.3%, P=0.028; 36.8% vs 14.3%, P=0.046; 15.8% vs 1.6%, P=0.037, respectively).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Reduced dose of PAD appears to result in a similar overall response rate, but a better tolerance and safety compared with standard dose.</p>

Inhibitory effect of 14-3-3ζ on the proliferation of HL-60 cells and HL-60/VCR cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was aimed to investigate the expression and role of 14-3-3ζ in the AML cell lines: sensitive HL-60 and drug-resistant HL-60/VCR cells. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot were respectively used to examine the expression of mdr1 mRNA and Pgp in AML cell lines to validate the results of microarray. Western blot was performed to investigate the expression of Pgp, 14-3-3ζ, and anti-apoptosis protein BCL-2, MCL-1 proteins. Immunofluorescence assay was used to detect the subcellular location of 14-3-3ζ protein in HL-60 and HL-60/VCR cells by laser scanning confocal microscopy. Transduction with siRNA was used to silence 14-3-3ζ in AML cell lines. Cell count method and flow cytometry of cell cycle were used to analyze the changes of growth of AML cells. The results found that mdr1 mRNA and Pgp did not expressed in HL-60 cells, but significantly overexpressed in HL-60/VCR cells. Except 14-3-3σ, the expression of other subtypes of 14-3-3 was higher in HL-60/VCR cells than that in HL-60 cells, especially 14-3-3ζ. The higher expression of 14-3-3ζ, BCL-2, MCL-1 protein was observed in HL-60/VCR cells than that in HL-60 cells. These results were same results from gene chip. It was also noticed that 14-3-3ζ was located in the cytoplasma and nuclei of AML cell lines, especially over-expressed in HL-60/VCR cells. Furthermore, suppression of 14-3-3ζ by RNA interference resulted in inhibition of the proliferation of AML cells with decreased protein expression of BCL-2 and MCL-1, especially in HL-60/VCR cells. It is concluded that 14-3-3ζ plays an important role in proliferation of AML cells and associates with BCL-2 and MCL-1 expression. These results suggested that development of therapy targeting 14-3-3ζ may provide novel, effective strategies for refractory and relapsed AML.

CMV pp65 gene modified dendritic cells activate autologous T cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a dangerous complication in patients with chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD). CMV-specific immunity depends on the activity of T cells. This study was aimed to investigate the effect of CMV pp65 gene modified dendritic cells (DCs) on activation of autologous T cells. Lentivirus system was utilized to introduce the CMV full-length pp65 gene into mouse DCs; CpG-DNA was used to induce mature DCs; flow cytometry and immunofluorescence were used to determine the expression of antigen and IFNgamma in T lymphocytes. The results showed that the DCs were infected with lentivirus at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 50 with optimal infectious efficiency of 30%-40%; mature DCs expressing pp65 gene could stimulate autologous naive T cells to express CD69 specifically; mature DCs expressing PP65 could stimulate autologous CD4+ or CD8+ T cells to produce IFNgamma. It is concluded that CMV pp65-modified and CpG-DNA-induced mature DCs can activate CMV-specific T lymphocytes in vitro.

Differentiation of HL-60 cells directly cocultured with HFCL cells and alteration of their gene expression profile / 中国实验血液学杂志

To study the molecular mechanism of the effect of fibroblastoid stromal cells (HFCL) from human bone marrow on the proliferation and differentiation in acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells, the cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM); the cell differentiation was determined by morphology NBT test and flow cytometric detection for expression of CD11b, CD14, CD13 and CD33; the genes differently expressed between HL-60 cells and HL-60 cells directly cocultured with HFCL were detected by using Affymetric oligo microarray technique. The changes of expression in some key genes were confirmed by using RT-PCR and Northern blot. The results showed that the percentage of G(1) phase cells in AML cells cocultured with HFCL cells was higher than that without HFCL cells, and the percentage of S phase cells was lower. The NBT positive cells and the expression of CD11b and CD14 increased. It was found that after direct contact of HL-60 cells with HFCL cells for 96 hours, the expression levels of 582 genes were up-regulated, 1 323 genes down-regulated. It is concluded that many genes may take part in the influence of HFCL cells on HL-60 cells, which may give important insights into the important molecules and pathways or cross-talk involved in the interaction between the AML cells and stromal cells.

Rac1 expression and its effects on the cell cycle progression and apoptosis in human acute leukemic cell line HL-60 / 中国实验血液学杂志

The study was aimed to investigate the expression of Rac1 in human acute leukemic cell line HL-60 and effect of Rac1 on cell cycle progression and apoptosis. The mRNA expression of Rac1 in HL-60 cell line and normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) were examined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. After transfection of HL-60 cells with different concentrations of Rac1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ASODN) by means of FuGENE6, the survival, cell cycle, apoptosis of HL-60 cells were observed through MTT assay, FCM test, Wright-Giemsa, acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining test respectively. The results showed that Rac1 relative amount in HL-60 was 0.84 +/- 0.13, while it in the normal PBMNC was 0.26 +/- 0.1 (P < 0.01); the expression of Rac1 in HL-60 cells was significantly upregulated. Compared with sense oligodeoxynucleotide (SODN), HL-60 cell viability, after exposure to ASODN at a concentration of 2.0 g/L decreased, (73.7 +/- 5.0)% vs (93.2 +/- 3.0)% (P < 0.01), while the proportion of G(1) cells increased as (52.1 +/- 6.8)% vs (31.6 +/- 4.7)% (P < 0.05), the percentage of Annexin V positive cells increased, (19.2 +/- 2.1)% vs (4.1 +/- 1.7)% (P < 0.01), and HL-60 cells were observed to have formation of apoptotic bodies. The data presented indicate that Rac1 may be involved in regulation of HL-60 cell cycle and apoptosis, promote overproliferation of HL-60 cells and inhibit their apoptosis.

Inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis and differentiation of leukemic cell line HL-60 by sodium valproate / 中国实验血液学杂志

To investigate the influence of sodium valproate (VPA) on proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation of HL-60 cell line, effect of VPA in various concentrations on proliferation of HL-60 cells was detected by MMT; Wright-Giemsa staining was performed to observe the morphologic changes of HL-60 cells; NBT experiment was used to test the differentiation of HL-60 cells; flow cytometry was used to observe cell cycles and analyze the apoptosis. The results indicated that the changes of the growth curve showed inhibition of proliferation of HL-60 cells. After a 24-48 hours culture with 2 mmol/L VPA, the cells exhibited nuclear shrinkage, pyknosis fragmentation and appearance of apoptosis bodies. The percentage of the annexin V(+)/PI(-) cells which were apoptotic increased from 2.9% to 17.1%; hypodiploid peak was observed; the percentage of HL-60 cells in G(1) phase increased from 51.1% to 84.6% and the cells in S phase decreased from 37.9% to 14.4%. After a week culture with 0.25 mmol/L VPA, the cells exhibited characteristics of differentiation. The percentage of NBT positive cells was (47 +/- 2)%. It is concluded that VPA can inhibit the proliferation of HL-60 cells while inducing differentiation and apoptosis of these cells. The mechanism needs to be further studied.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitor reverses adriamycin resistance mediated by cell adhesion in RPMI8226 cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

To study the effects of tyrosine-kinase inhibitor STI571 on the adhesion of RPMI8226 cells to fibronectin (FN), cell adhesion mediated adriamycin-resistance and the Rac1 mRNA expression, the adhesion of RPMI8226 cells to fibronectin and drug resistance mediated by cell adhesion were determined by means of crystal violet staining and MTT assays respectively, Rac1 mRNA levels in RPMI8226 cells were examined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The results showed that STI571 could inhibit the adhesion of RPMI8226 cells to fibronectin. When RPMI8226 cells had been adhered to FN or BSA-coated wells for 1, 6 and 12 hours, the adhesion rates were (43.71 +/- 2.18)%, (55.63 +/- 1.56)%, and (63.42 +/- 2.46)% respectively. After treatment with STI571 20 micromol/L, the adhesion rates decreased to (15.12 +/- 1.04)%, (17.58 +/- 1.32)% and (17.24 +/- 1.59)% respectively (P < 0.05). The experiment revealed that growth of RPMI8226 cells adhered to FN-coated plates had a significant advantage over growth on BSA-coated plates when exposed to adriamycin (Adr) for 1 hour followed by a 24-hour culture period, and the mean IC(50) value for FN-adhered cells was (1.46 +/- 0.04) micromol/L while mean IC(50) value for BSA control was (0.78 +/- 0.03) micromol/L (P < 0.05). Following treatment with 20 micromol/L STI571, the mean IC50 values for FN and BSA adhered cells were (0.81 +/- 0.05) micromol/L, (0.74 +/- 0.02) micromol/L respectively, there was no significant difference between them (P > 0.05). RT-PCR demonstrated that the relative Rac1 mRNA level (Rac1/GAPDH) in RPMI8226 cells was downregulated following being treated with 20 micromol/L STI571. It is concluded that STI571 can inhibit the adhesion of RPMI8226 cells to fibronectin, reverse cell adhesion mediated adriamycin-resistance, and downregulate Rac1 mRNA level.

Effects of normal human bone marrow fibroblastoid stromal cell line on the proliferation of multiple myeloma cell line RPMI8226 / 中国实验血液学杂志

To investigate the effects of normal human bone marrow fibroblastoid stromal cell lines HFCL on the proliferation of multiple myeloma cell lines RPMI8226, the co-culture system of RPMI8226 with HFCL was established, the adhesion ratio was determined by MTT colorimetric assay, growth curves were determined by trypan blue exclusion, the mitotic index (MI) of RPMI8226 cell was observed by Wright-Giemsa staining. Flow cytometry and Western blot were used to study the changes of cell cycle and expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), respectively. The results showed that in co-culture the adhesion ratio of RPMI8226 after 1 hour was 29.4%; the proliferation of RPMI8226 cell line in direct contact with HFCL cell line was inhibited as compared with RPMI8226 in suspension. No obvious changes were observed in RPMI8226 cell separated by transwell inserts. The percentage of G(1) phase cells of RPMI8226 cell line in direct contact with HFCL was higher than that of RPMI8226 in suspension, and the percentage of S phase cells was lower. Moreover, the MI of RPMI8226 cell line in suspension was higher than that of RPMI8226 cell line in direct contact with HFCL cell. The expression of PCNA in RPMI8226 cell line in suspension was higher than that of RPMI8226 cell in direct contact with HFCL cell. It is concluded that the normal human bone marrow fibroblastoid stromal cell HFCL inhibits the proliferation and progression of cell cycle of multiple myeloma cell line, RPMI8226.