Wnt/Ca2+/NFAT signaling maintains survival of Ph+ leukemia cells upon inhibition of Bcr-Abl.
Posted by rob on July 28, 2010 under Uncategorized | 
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Wnt/Ca2+/NFAT signaling maintains survival of Ph+ leukemia cells upon inhibition of Bcr-Abl.
Cancer Cell. 2010 Jul 13;18(1):74-87
Authors: Gregory MA, Phang TL, Neviani P, Alvarez-Calderon F, Eide CA, O’Hare T, Zaberezhnyy V, Williams RT, Druker BJ, Perrotti D, Degregori J
Although Bcr-Abl kinase inhibitors have proven effective in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), they generally fail to eradicate Bcr-Abl(+) leukemia cells. To identify genes whose inhibition sensitizes Bcr-Abl(+) leukemias to killing by Bcr-Abl inhibitors, we performed an RNAi-based synthetic lethal screen with imatinib mesylate in CML cells. This screen identified numerous components of a Wnt/Ca(2+)/NFAT signaling pathway. Antagonism of this pathway led to impaired NFAT activity, decreased cytokine production, and enhanced sensitivity to Bcr-Abl inhibition. Furthermore, NFAT inhibition with cyclosporin A facilitated leukemia cell elimination by the Bcr-Abl inhibitor dasatinib and markedly improved survival in a mouse model of Bcr-Abl(+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Targeting this pathway in combination with Bcr-Abl inhibition could improve treatment of Bcr-Abl(+) leukemias.
PMID: 20609354 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]