Blockade of Y177 and Nuclear Translocation of Bcr-Abl Inhibits Proliferation and Promotes Apoptosis in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells.

The gradual emerging of resistance to imatinib urgently calls for the development of new therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The fusion protein Bcr-Abl, which promotes the malignant transformation of CML cells, is mainly located in the cytoplasm, while the c-Abl protein which is expressed in the nucleus can induce apoptosis. Based on the hetero-dimerization of FKBP (the 12-kDa FK506- and rapamycin-binding protein) and FRB (the FKBP-rapamycin binding domain of the protein kinase, mTOR) mediated by AP21967, we constructed a nuclear transport system to induce cytoplasmic Bcr-Abl into nuclear. In this study, we reported the construction of the nuclear transport system, and we demonstrated that FN3R (three nuclear localization signals were fused to FRBT2098L with a FLAG tag), HF2S (two FKBP domains were in tandem and fused to the SH2 domain of Grb2 with an HA tag) and Bcr-Abl form a complexus upon AP21967. Bcr-Abl was imported into the nucleus successfully by the nuclear transport system. The nuclear transport system inhibited CML cell proliferation through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) pathways mainly by HF2S. It was proven that nuclear located Bcr-Abl induced CML cell (including imatinib-resistant K562G01 cells) apoptosis by activation of p73 and its downstream molecules. In summary, our study provides a new targeted therapy for the CML patients even with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI)-resistance.

Depression of oncogenecity by dephosphorylating and degrading BCR-ABL.

Aberrant phosphorylation and overexpression of BCR-ABL fusion protein are responsible for the main pathogenesis in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Phosphorylated BCR-ABL Y177 recruits GRB2 adaptor and triggers leukemic RAS-MAPK and PI3K-AKT signals. In this study, we engineered a SPOA system to dephosphorylate and degrade BCR-ABL by targeting BCR-ABL Y177. We tested its effect on BCR-ABL phosphorylation and expression, as well as cell proliferation and apoptosis in CML cells. We found that SPOA remarkably dephosphorylated BCR-ABL Y177, prevented GRB2 recruitment, and uncoupled RAS-MAPK and PI3K-AKT signals. Meanwhile, SPOA degraded BCR-ABL oncoprotein in ubiquitin-independent manner and depressed the signal transduction of STAT5 and CRKL by BCR-ABL. Furthermore, SPOA inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in CML cells and depressed the oncogenecity of K562 cells in mice. These results provide evidence that dephosphorylating and degrading oncogenic BCR-ABL offer an alternative CML therapy.

ABL SH3 mutant inhibits BCR-ABL activity and increases imatinib sensitivity by targeting RIN1 protein in CML cell.

SH3 domain plays an important role in maintaining autoinhibition of BCR-ABL protein. RIN1 interacts with BCR-ABL SH3 domain via PxxP motifs to promote autophosphorylation as well as activation of BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, suggesting using exogenous SH3 domain which blocks the interaction of BCR-ABL and RIN1 could be an adjunct therapy for CML. Here, we reported a novel p-BCR-ABL inhibitor, designed as ABL SH3 mutant, and identified its effects on inhibiting the tyrosine kinase activity of BCR-ABL without or with imatinib (IM) in vitro and in vivo. Our results demonstrated that ABL SH3 mutant T79Y markedly repressed the expression of BCR-ABL signaling pathways in IM-resistant cell lines KCL22 and K562/G01 as well as IM-sensitive cell line K562. Moreover, combination of T79Y with IM considerably decreased the proliferation of leukemia cells in vivo. Inhibition of BCR-ABL and RIN1 interaction using exogenous modified BCR-ABL SH3 domain provides a feasible and alternative option of small molecule inhibitors for CML treatment.

Heat shock protein-70 neutralizes apoptosis inducing factor in Bcr/Abl expressing cells.

Bcr/Abl fusion protein is a hallmark of human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The protein can activate various signaling pathways to make normal cells transform malignantly and thus to facilitate tumorigenesis. It has been reported that heat shock protein-70 (HSP-70) can be served as an anti-apoptotic protein that suppresses Bax and Apo-2L/TRAIL. But it is unclear whether HSP-70 affects AIF-initiated apoptosis in Bcr/Abl expressing cells considering that HSP-70 is coincidentally over-regulated in these cells. Our findings supported that abundant HSP-70 in Bcr/Abl cells neutralizes AIF by segregating it from nucleus via direct interaction, leading to the failure of AIF initiating cell death and the silence of caspase-independent apoptotic pathway upon apoptotic induction. Moderate inhibition of HSP-70 expression by siRNA leads to Vp-16 triggered re-distribution of AIF in nucleus. In addition, AIF bears a HSP-70 binding domain allowing association with HSP-70. Therefore, disruption of the association using an AIF mutant lacking this domain can restore the potential of AIF importing into nucleus, and finally triggers cell death in a time dependent manner.

Induction of apoptosis by directing oncogenic Bcr-Abl into the nucleus.

The chimeric Bcr-Abl oncoprotein, which causes chronic myeloid leukemia, mainly localizes in the cytoplasm, and loses its ability to transform cells after moving into the nucleus. Here we report a new strategy to convert Bcr-Abl to be an apoptotic inducer by altering its subcellular localization. We show that a rapalog nuclear transport system (RNTS) containing six nuclear localization signals directs Bcr-Abl into the nucleus and that nuclear entrapped Bcr-Abl induces apoptosis and inhibits proliferation of CML cells by activating p73 and shutting down cytoplasmic oncogenic signals mediated by Bcr-Abl. Coupling cytoplasmic depletion with nuclear entrapment of Bcr-Abl synergistically enhances the inhibitory effect of nuclear Bcr-Abl on its oncogenicity in mice. These results provide evidence that direction of cytoplasmic Bcr-Abl to the nucleus offers an alternative CML therapy.

Proteomic-based identification of Apg-2 as a therapeutic target for chronic myeloid leukemia.

The oncogenic BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase induces constitutive enhanced "spontaneous" DNA damage and unfaithful repair in Philadelphia chromosome positive leukemia cells. Here, we investigated the changes of protein profile in H2O2-induced DNA damage/repair in BaF3-MIGR1 and BaF3-BCR/ABL cells through a proteomic strategy consisting of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. In total, 41 spots were differentially expressed and 13 proteins were identified with further MS analysis. Two essential proteins, Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase ABL1 (c-ABL) and Heat shock 70kDa protein 4 (Apg-2), were confirmed by Western blot and showed consistent changes with proteomic results. Moreover, functional analysis demonstrated that inhibition of Apg-2 not only decreased cell proliferation, but also induced cell apoptosis in BCR/ABL positive cells (BaF3-BCR/ABL, BaF3-BCR/ABL(T315I)). We also proved that Apg-2 inhibition aggravated H2O2 induced damage in BCR/ABL positive cells, and enhanced the sensitivity of BaF3-BCR/ABL(T315I) to STI571. Taken together, the findings in this work provide us with some clues to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying BCR/ABL in the DNA damage/repair processes and demonstrated that Apg-2 would be a valid target for anti-leukemia drug development.

Inhibition of BCR/ABL protein expression by miR-203 sensitizes for imatinib mesylate.

Selective inhibition of BCR/ABL expression by RNA interference has been demonstrated as an effective strategy in CML treatment and a reversal to imatinib resistance. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNAs involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation. miR-203 is supposed to directly regulate ABL and BCR/ABL expression, however, the role of miR-203 in imatinib-resistant cells is not clear. Here, we report that overexpression of miR-203 in BaF3-BCR/ABL cells with T315I mutant inhibited cell growth and colony formation ability. Furthermore, miR-203 increased sensitivity to imatinib in BaF3-BCR/ABL(T315I) cells, thereby antagonizing the main mechanism of resistance to imatinib.

miR-29b suppresses CML cell proliferation and induces apoptosis via regulation of BCR/ABL1 protein.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNAs that regulate gene expression posttranscriptionally and are critical for many cellular pathways. Recent evidence has shown that aberrant miRNA expression profiles and unique miRNA signaling pathways are present in many cancers. Here, we demonstrate that miR-29b is markedly lower expressed in CML patient samples. Bioinformatics analysis reveals a conserved target site for miR-29b in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of ABL1. miR-29b significantly suppresses the activity of a luciferase reporter containing ABL1-3'UTR and this activity is not observed in cells transfected with mutated ABL1-3'UTR. Enforced expression of miR-29b in K562 cells inhibits cell growth and colony formation ability thereby inducing apoptosis through cleavage of procaspase 3 and PARP. Furthermore, K562 cells transfected with a siRNA targeting ABL1 show similar growth and apoptosis phenotypes as cells overexpression of miR-29b. Collectively, our results suggest that miR-29b may function as a tumor suppressor by targeting ABL1 and BCR/ABL1.

Construction and expression of humanized chimeric T cell receptor specific for chronic myeloid leukemia cells.

Chimeric T cell receptors (chTCRs), composed of the single-chain variable fragments (scFv) of murine antibodies and human signaling molecules, are used to redirect the specificity of autologous or allogeneic T lymphocytes. To develop novel therapeutic agents for treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), we engineered a scFv from the hybridoma cell line CMA1 which produces monoclonal antibody specific against CML. The genes encoding the heavy and light chain variable regions were amplified from CMA1 cDNA and a humanized chTCR was constructed. Expression of the novel hchTCR was verified in NIH3T3 cells transduced with retroviral vectors. The results demonstrated that hchTCR can be expressed and presented on cell surface normally. These results suggest that retroviral vectors expressing hchTCR specific for CML cells may be used to redirect human T lymphocytes.

Targeting BCR tyrosine177 site with novel SH2-DED causes selective leukemia cell death in vitro and in vivo.

Emergence of resistance to imatinib mesylate complicates the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors are capable to overcome resistance mediated by most mutations except T315I. As this mutation is causative for 20% of clinically observed resistances, the need for novel treatment strategies becomes obvious and urgent. The autophosphorylated BCR/ABL Tyr177 recruits Grb2 via its SH2 domain, which is required for efficient induction of the myeloproliferative disease by BCR/ABL. The death effector domain (DED) is the critical factor for activation of caspase-8 induced apoptosis signal. We thus speculated that transduction of an exogenous SH2-DED (SD) fragment into the CML cells may inhibit the binding of BCR/ABL Tyr177 and Grb2, activate caspase-8 induced apoptosis and serve as a novel CML treatment strategy. The infection of the recombinant adenovirus Ad5/F35-SD was verified to show both cell proliferation-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effect. Further exploration into the underlying mechanisms revealed that Ad5/F35-SD exerted its function by binding to the phospho-BCR/ABL Tyr177 site, reducing Ras, MAPK and AKT kinase activities, and activating caspase-8 induced apoptosis signal by DED protein binding to DED domain of precursor caspase-8. Moreover, high anti-proliferative activity of Ad5/F35-SD was observed in nude mice and its leukemia-protective effect was evident in chronic myeloid leukemia model mice injected with BCR/ABL(+) BaF3 cells. In conclusion, Ad5/F35-SD exhibits anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activity on BCR/ABL positive leukemia cells in vitro and in vivo through disruption of Grb2 SH2-phospho-BCR/ABL Tyr177 complex formation and induction of caspase-8 activation.

Expression of a humanized single-chain variable fragment antibody targeting chronic myeloid leukemia cells in Escherichia coli and its characterization.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a malignant blood disease originating from hematopoietic stem cells. Drug resistance and tumor recurrence have become major problems for the treatment of this disease. Therefore, new therapeutic methods need to be developed. Antigens expressed on the surface of cancer cells are potential targets for antibody-mediated drug delivery. In our study, an anti-CML cell single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody has been produced and characterized because it is the first step towards the construction of a novel cancer-targeted agent for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Here, a 46 kDa antibody derivative was produced by genetic fusion of a humanized scFv antibody against a CML cell surface antigen with the 6xHis-tag, which can specifically bind to CML cells. The recombinant scFv against CML cells was expressed as a fusion protein containing the 6xHis-tag at its N-termini, and purified by Ni2+-NTA column chromatography. The recombinant scFv, which was soluble, was expressed and produced in bacteria, and was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and western blot assays. Finally, its cell-binding activity and immunoactivity were demonstrated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Furthermore, flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that this scFv specifically targeted CML cells expressing the associated antigen (47.9 and 34.4%) other than non-expressing tumor cells (1.25%) in vitro. The results presented in this study illustrate that the humanized anti-CML cell scFv antibody may function as a novel therapeutic tool for CML.

[Construction of a recombinant adenovirus Ad5F35-SD-EGFP and its effect on K562 cell proliferation].

OBJECTIVE: To construct a recombinant adenovirus vector for SH2-DED fusion gene and assess its inhibitory effect on the proliferation of K562 cells. METHODS: SH2-DED fusion gene and its mutant SH2mt-DED were amplified by splicing PCR and cloned into pAdTrack-CMV plasmid separately to construct the shuttle plasmids pAdT-SD-EGFP and pAdT-SmD-EGFP, respectively. After Pme I digestion, the shuttle plasmids were transformed into ultra-competent pAd5F35-BJ5183 cells to generate defective adenovirus vectors pAd5F35-SD-EGFP and pAd5F35- SmD-EGFP by homologous recombination. The vectors, linearized by Pac I digestion, were further transfected into AD293 cells for packaging and amplified by infecting AD293 cells repeatedly. K562 cells were then infected by the recombinant adenoviruses and the expression of SD was detected by Western blotting. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to investigate the effect of Ad5F35-SD-EGFP and Ad5F35-SmD-EGFP on the proliferation of K562 cells. RESULTS: The recombinant adenovirus vectors pAd5F35-SD-EGFP and pAd5F35-SmD-EGFP were constructed correctly, with a titer reaching 1.5×10(12) pfu/ml after amplification. Western blotting demonstrated that the target proteins were effectively expressed in transfected K562 cells. MTT assay and flow cytometry showed that transfection with pAd5F35-SD-EGFP resulted in growth inhibition rate of 55.21% in K562 cells, significantly higher than the inhibition rate of 17.95% following transfection with pAd5F35- SmD-EGFP and 7.33% following PBS treatment (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The recombinant adenovirus vector Ad5F35-SD-EGFP we constructed can significantly inhibit the proliferation of K562 cells in vitro.

Selective leukemia cell death by activation of the double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase PKR.

Deregulated activity of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase encoded by the Bcr-Abl oncogene represents an important therapeutic target for all the chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) phases. In this study, we sought to identify targeted PKR activation by Bcr-Abl AS RNA, an anti-sense RNA complementary to the unique mRNA fragments flanking the fusion point of Bcr-Abl, which can be used as an effective anti-leukemia strategy in K562 cells. Moreover, we observed expression of Bcr-Abl AS RNA in K562 cells which resulted in selective apoptosis induction through specific activation of PKR, leading to phosphorylation of eIF2α, global inhibition of protein synthesis, caspase-8 activation and BAX up-regulation. The targeted PKR activation and induced apoptosis were reversed by the PKR inhibitor 2-aminopurine. Taken together, our results indicate that targeted PKR activation led to selective apoptosis induction in K562 cells, which correlated with caspase-8 activity and enhanced expression of BAX.

Growth of chronic myeloid leukemia cells is inhibited by infection with Ad-SH2-HA adenovirus that disrupts Grb2-Bcr-Abl complexes.

The persistence of Bcr-Abl-positive cells in patients on imatinib therapy indicates that inhibition of the Bcr-Abl kinase activity alone might not be sufficient to eradicate the leukemia cells. Many downstream effectors of Bcr-Abl have been described, including activation of both the Grb2-SoS-Ras-MAPK and Grb2-Gab2-PI3K-Akt pathways. The Bcr-Abl-Grb2 interaction, which is mediated by the direct interaction of the Grb2 SH2 domain with the phospho-Bcr-Abl Y177, is required for activation of these signaling pathways. Therefore, disrupting their interaction represents a potential therapeutic strategy for inhibiting the oncogenic downstream signals of Bcr-Abl. Adenovirus Ad-SH2-HA expressing the Grb2 SH2 domain was constructed and applied in this study. As expected, Ad-SH2-HA efficiently infected CML cells and functioned by binding to the phospho-Bcr-Abl Y177 site, competitively disrupting the Grb2 SH2-phospho-Bcr-Abl Y177 complex. They induced potent anti-proliferation and apoptosis-inducing effects in CML cell lines. Moreover, the Ras, MAPK and Akt activities were significantly reduced in the Ad-SH2-HA treated cells. These were not observed with the point-mutated control adenovirus Ad-Sm-HA with abolished phospho-Bcr-Abl Y177 binding sites. These data indicate that, in addition to the direct targeting of Bcr-Abl, selective inhibition of its downstream signaling pathways may be a therapeutic option for CML, and the Ad-SH2-HA-mediated killing strategy could be explored as a promising anti-leukemia agent in CML.

Detection of α-globin gene deletion and duplication using quantitative multiplex PCR of short fluorescent fragments.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to establish a sensitive method that can detect the presence of not only the common but also the unusual or unknown α-globin gene deletions for screening of α-thalassemia. We used quantitative multiplex PCR of short fluorescent fragments (QMPSF) for the α-globin genes (HBA) to screen α-thalassemia deletions. METHODS: We set up and validated HBA-QMPSF using 50 negative and 100 positive controls of deletional α-thalassemia. To evaluate its ability to detect the presence of the common and unusual or unknown α-globin gene deletions, 579 unrelated samples were simultaneously analyzed using this assay and multiplex Gap polymerase chain reaction (Gap-PCR). The inconsistent results were further confirmed by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). RESULTS: HBA-QMPSF was capable of detecting α-globin gene deletions with an acceptable variability as shown by mean values (SD) of allele dosage for the heterozygous deleted control obtained from intra- and inter-experimental replicates [0.63 (0.01) and 0.61 (0.03)]. In 572 out of the 579 unrelated subjects, HBA-QMPSF and multiplex Gap-PCR gave consistent results. In seven cases which were finally proved to be composed of one rare deletion--Thai/-α3.7, one novel deletion--SEA/-α2.8, four αααanti3.7/αα and one αααanti4.2/αα triplications, HBA-QMPSF showed deletion or duplication in the α-globin gene while multiplex Gap-PCR failed to give the correct diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: HBA-QMPSF is able to detect the presence of the common and unusual or unknown α-thalassemia deletions and duplications. It can be used as an initial screening test for α-thalassemia caused by HBA gene copy number alteration.

Targeted blockage of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 signaling pathway with decoy oligodeoxynucleotides suppresses leukemic K562 cell growth.

The protein signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) of the JAK/STAT pathway is constitutively activated because of its phosphorylation by tyrosine kinase activity of fusion protein BCR-ABL in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells. This study investigated the potential therapeutic effect of STAT5 decoy oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) using leukemia K562 cells as a model. Our results showed that transfection of 21-mer-long STAT5 decoy ODN into K562 cells effectively inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis. Further, STAT5 decoy ODN downregulated STAT5 targets bcl-xL, cyclinD1, and c-myc at both mRNA and protein levels in a sequence-specific manner. Collectively, these data demonstrate the therapeutic effect of blocking the STAT5 signal pathway by cis-element decoy for cancer characterized by constitutive STAT5 activation. Thus, our study provides support for STAT5 as a potential target downstream of BCR-ABL for CML treatment and helps establish the concept of targeting STAT5 by decoy ODN as a novel therapy approach for imatinib-resistant CML.

[Effect of wild-type p53 gene on the number and proteins of centrosome in leukemic K562 cells].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of recombinant adenovirus-mediated wild-type p53 gene on the number and proteins of centrosome in K562 cells. To explore the possibility of application of wild-type p53 gene therapy in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia. METHODS: The recombinant adenoviruses carrying wild-type p53 gene (Ad5 wtp53), mutant p53 gene (Ad5 mtp53) or the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene was repeatedly amplified and co-infected into K562 cells with cation polybrene. The optimal infection titer and infection time of the recombinant adenoviruses were determined by MTT assay, p53 mRNA and protein expression were determined by RT-PCR and Western blot respectively. The centrosomal structural protein gamma-tubulin and the spindle protein alpha-tubulin were marked simultaneously by indirect immunofluorescence staining, and the expression of the centrosomal gamma-tubulin protein, the mitosis and the number of centrosome were observed under the laser confocal microscopy. RESULTS: Infection efficiency with recombinant adenoviruses was facilitated by polybrene in K562 cells, and 4 microg/ml polybrene was chosen. The optimal adenovirus infection titer was 20,000 MOI and the optimal infection time was 72 hours. p53 mRNA and P53 protein can be expressed in K562 cells by Ad5wtp53 and Ad5mtp53. Both the expression of the centrosomal gamma-tubulin protein and the number of centrosomes were decreased after Ad5wtp53 infection. CONCLUSION: There is sustained expression of P53 protein in K562 cells after its infection by Ad5wtp53. Wild-type P53 protein can lead to the down-regulation of the number of centrosomes and the expression of centrosomal gamma-tubulin protein in K562 cells.

Inhibitory effect of wild-type p53 gene on excessive replication of centrosomes in leukemia cell line K562.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Mutation and deletion of the p53 gene in tumor cells is one of the major reasons for aneuploid development and genomic instability. Abnormal centrosomes exist in chronic myelogenous leukemia patients at different stages; furthermore, the degree of abnormality is associated with the clinical stage and more severe in the blast crisis stage. This study was to establish the leukemia cell line K562 with the exogenous wild-type p53 (wt-p53) gene, and to explore the effect of the p53 gene on centrosomes in K562 cells. METHODS: The recombinant adenoviruses carrying the wt-p53 gene (Ad5wtp53), the mutant p53 gene (Ad5mtp53) and the green fluorescent protein gene (Ad5GFP) were amplified respectively in HEK293 cells, and co-infected with cation polybrene into K562 cells respectively; uninfected K562 cells were used as blank control. The infection efficiency was analyzed by flow cytometry. P53 expression was detected by Western blot. Centrosomes were counted under the laser confocal microscope after indirect immunofluorescence staining. The expression of Gadd45a (growth arrest and DNA damage), BubR1 (Bub 1 related) and Aurora A was detected by western blot. RESULTS: K562 cell line with exogenous wt-p53 gene was established. The infection efficiencies of three groups were over 60%, and P53 sustained expression for 72 h. The percentage of cells with amplified centrosomes (more than 2/cell) in Ad5wtp53 group was decreased to (0.38 +/- 0.02)%, lower than that of blank control group (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the protein levels of Gadd45a and BubR1 in Ad5wtp53 group were upregulated by 93% and 88% of blank control (p < 0.05), respectively, and the protein level of Aurora A was downregulated by 56% of blank control (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: P53 protein is sustained to express in K562 cells after being infected by Ad5wtp53. wt-p53 can suppress excessive replication of centrosomes that may contribute to the upregulation of Gadd45a and BubR1 protein expression as well as the downregulation of Aurora A protein expression.

[Effect of targeted activation of protein kinase PKR on proliferation of leukemia cell line K562 and its mechanism].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The bcr-abl fusion gene induced by reciprocal translocation of t(9; 22)(q34; q11) plays an important role in pathogenesis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Using the strategy of activating double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-dependent protein kinase (PKR) by the dsRNA formed between the CML-specific bcr/abl fusion gene mRNA and the exogenous recombinant antisense RNA, this study was to investigate the effect of the activated PKR on the proliferation of leukemia cell line K562, and explore its possible mechanisms. METHODS: dsRNA analogue polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (PolyIC), retroviral vector containing 40 bp of bcr/abl fusion gene sequence (RV-40AS), RV-40AS and 2-aminopurine (2-AP), and retroviral vector containing green fluorescent protein sequence (RV-GFP) were transfected or infected into K562 cells respectively; ECV304 cells were used as control. Cell proliferation was determined by cell counting, MTT assay, and semisolid clone formation experiment. Cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). The expression of PKR, phosphated PKR (p-PKR), eukaryotic initiation factor-2alpha (eIF2alpha), and phosphated eIF2alpha (p-eIF2alpha) was detected by Western blot. Total protein synthesis was studied by 3H-leucine incorporation. RESULTS: polyIC inhibited the proliferation of K562 cells and ECV304 cells unspecifically, while RV-40AS only inhibited the proliferation of K562 cells specifically. 2-AP blocked the inhibitory effect of RV-40AS on the proliferation of K562 cells. The S phase proportion was significantly lower in polyIC-and RV-40AS-treated K562 cells than in untreated cells [(37.26+/-2.35)% and (31.48+/-3.65)% vs. (58.53+/-5.42)%, P<0.05], while the G0/G1 phase proportion was significantly higher in polyIC-and RV-40AS-treated cells than in untreated cells [(50.97+/-2.18)% and (57.47+/-3.61)% vs. (36.44+/-4.20)%, P<0.05]. The expression of p-PKR and p-eIF2alpha in polyIC-and RV-40AS-treated K562 cells and polyIC-treated ECV304 cells was obviously up-regulated. The total protein synthesis level was significantly lower in RV-40AS-treated K562 cells than in untreated K562 cells [(3.5+/-1.9) cpm/ng vs. (26.8+/-2.6) cpm/ng, P<0.05]. CONCLUSION: Targeted activation of PKR could inhibit the proliferation of K562 cells through inhibiting protein synthesis, and arresting progression of cell cycle.

[Study on allergenicity of fresh HAM for type I hypersensitivity].

To investigate whether human amniotic membrane (HAM) preparations have the possibility to type I hypersensitivity and its allergenicity. In systemic active allergic test model, 30 guinea pigs were equally divided into three groups. Each 10 guinea pigs were immunized with fresh HAM homogenate, albumen solution (positive control) and PBS (negative control). After the animals were stimulated with corresponding allergen, observe their reaction till dying or 3 h, then obtain blood samples, to determine blood histamine concentrations using chemical fluorometry and four hemorheologic markers by hemorheology analysis system. The guinea pigs responded to fresh HAM homogenate in almost the same manner as to PBS, and no obvious allergic reaction was observed in the animals except those in positive control group. The blood histamine concentration and four hemorheologic markers showed no significant differences between HAM and PBS (P > 0.05), both were much lower than positive control group (P < 0.01). Fresh HAM won't lead to type I hypersensitivity for lack of allergen performance.