LAUSR

Large granular lymphocytic (LGL) leukemia is a rare form of leukemia that is caused by the increase in cytotoxic T-lymphocytes or natural killer (NK) cells. A subcategory of T-LGL leukemia that co-expresses T and NK cell surface markers is very aggressive and has a very poor prognosis. Current treatment of aggressive T-LGL is based on non-specific immunosuppressive therapy. Lack of model cell lines contributes to slow progress in designing targeted therapy and clinical trials. Our recent studies demonstrate that the mouse T-leukemic cell line LSTRA reproduces some important characteristics of aggressive T-LGL leukemia. This is the first report of a cell line model mimicking the deadly human leukemia and has great potentials for drug screening in treating T-LGL leukemia. Bortezomib is one of the drugs that show promising results in treating LGL leukemia patients in clinical trials. Bortezomib is the first FDA-approved reversible proteasome inhibitor in treating multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma patients. One of the major concerns in using single-agent bortezomib is that patients develop resistance during the course of treatment and cancers relapse. Therefore, it is important to develop novel strategies in overcoming LGL leukemic cells’ resistance to bortezomib and its derivatives. In our current study, we showed that bortezomib inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in LSTRA leukemic cells. Partial reversion after 48-72 hr of bortezomib treatment suggested development of resistance to bortezomib. We further established bortezomib-resistant LSTRA cells that tolerated significantly higher levels of bortezomib. Both carfilzomib (FDA-approved second generation irreversible proteasome inhibitor) and MLN 4924 (proteasome pathway upstream inhibitor) failed to overcome bortezomib resistance. Only luteolin, a common flavonoid found in plants, can effectively overcome bortezomib resistance. Metabolic reprogramming has been linked to drug resistance in cancer cells. Indeed, We found that bortezomib-resistant LSTRA cells had smaller cell size as well as reduced rate of glucose uptake, lactate secretion, and mitochondrial respiration. These results suggest that reduced mitochondrial activity may be an important molecular marker for LSTRA cell’s resistance to bortezomib. All together, we identified luteolin as a potential small molecule in overcoming LGL leukemia’s resistance to proteasome inhibitor therapy. Altered mitochondrial activity and cell metabolism in bortezomib-resistant cells provide additional targets in developing novel combined chemotherapy for cancer patients. Citation Format: Fu-Shin Chueh, Fu-Yu Chueh, Chao-Lan Yu. LSTRA cell line as a model for large granular lymphocytic leukemia in drug screening [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2051. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2051