It has been hypothesized that cancer cells require a block in apoptosis for survival, due to their numerous phenotype irregularities. One potential mechanism cancer cells might exploit to maintain survival is the expression of antiapoptotic proteins of the BCL-2 family. We have developed a novel method, called BH3 profiling, that detects dependence on antiapoptotic proteins. It is particularly useful as it can be used to study freshly isolated primary cancer tissues without need for further culture ex vivo. We will use this and other more standard techniques to study regulation of apoptosis in several systems. First, we will investigate whether chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells are dependent on BCL-2 for survival. We will also examine whether CLL cells are sensitive to treatment with a novel BCL-2 antagonist, ABT-737. We will furthermore determine the molecular events underpinning this sensitivity. Next, we will investigate acquired resistance to BCL-2 antagonism. We have identified a panel of hematopoietic cancer cell lines that are sensitive to ABT-737 treatment. Since acquired resistance to therapy is an important clinical phenomenon, we will study the molecular mechanisms by which cells might become resistant to ABT-737. Identification of these mechanisms will be critical to designing therapies to overcome resistance. We propose a series of mechanism-based combination therapies to be tested for their ability to overcome resistance and facilitate response to ABT-737 in cell lines and CLL cells. Finally, our studies to date suggest that cancer cells are far more likely to be dependent on anti-apoptotic proteins than non-malignant, normal cells. We will test this hypothesis by systematically evaluating the anti-apoptotic requirements of normal blood cells using BH3 profiling. Our goal is to provide a molecular understanding of what may be a dichotomy of vital clinical significance, as it suggests an intriguing therapeutic window between normal and cancer cells. These studies are directed at determining the specific ways cancer cells keep themselves alive, ways that may be used only by cancer cells, but not by normal, healthy cells. Understanding this would allow us to identify targets that would kill cancer cells, but not normal cells. Such a strategy has the promise to improve treatment of cancer by making treatment more selective for cancer cells, and therefore less toxic to normal, healthy tissues.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA129974-05
Application #
8127834
Study Section
Basic Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics Study Section (BMCT)
Program Officer
Arya, Suresh
Project Start
2007-09-26
Project End
2012-08-31
Budget Start
2011-09-01
Budget End
2012-08-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$315,153
Indirect Cost
Name
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Department
Type
DUNS #
076580745
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02215
Kale, Justin; Kutuk, Ozgur; Brito, Glauber Costa et al. (2018) Phosphorylation switches Bax from promoting to inhibiting apoptosis thereby increasing drug resistance. EMBO Rep 19:
Pallis, Monica; Burrows, Francis; Ryan, Jeremy et al. (2017) Complementary dynamic BH3 profiles predict co-operativity between the multi-kinase inhibitor TG02 and the BH3 mimetic ABT-199 in acute myeloid leukaemia cells. Oncotarget 8:16220-16232
Sarosiek, Kristopher A; Fraser, Cameron; Muthalagu, Nathiya et al. (2017) Developmental Regulation of Mitochondrial Apoptosis by c-Myc Governs Age- and Tissue-Specific Sensitivity to Cancer Therapeutics. Cancer Cell 31:142-156
Deng, J; Isik, E; Fernandes, S M et al. (2017) Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibition increases BCL-2 dependence and enhances sensitivity to venetoclax in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Leukemia 31:2075-2084
Anderson, Mary Ann; Deng, Jing; Seymour, John F et al. (2016) The BCL2 selective inhibitor venetoclax induces rapid onset apoptosis of CLL cells in patients via a TP53-independent mechanism. Blood 127:3215-24
Sarosiek, Kristopher A; Letai, Anthony (2016) Directly targeting the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis for cancer therapy using BH3 mimetics - recent successes, current challenges and future promise. FEBS J 283:3523-3533
Touzeau, C; Ryan, J; Guerriero, J et al. (2016) BH3 profiling identifies heterogeneous dependency on Bcl-2 family members in multiple myeloma and predicts sensitivity to BH3 mimetics. Leukemia 30:761-4
Dutta, Sanjib; Ryan, Jeremy; Chen, T Scott et al. (2015) Potent and specific peptide inhibitors of human pro-survival protein Bcl-xL. J Mol Biol 427:1241-1253
Montero, Joan; Sarosiek, Kristopher A; DeAngelo, Joseph D et al. (2015) Drug-induced death signaling strategy rapidly predicts cancer response to chemotherapy. Cell 160:977-989
Pan, Rongqing; Hogdal, Leah J; Benito, Juliana M et al. (2014) Selective BCL-2 inhibition by ABT-199 causes on-target cell death in acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer Discov 4:362-75

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