Article

FLT3/ITD expression increases expansion, survival and entry into cell cycle of human haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, USA.
British Journal of Haematology (impact factor: 4.94). 05/2007; 137(1):64-75. DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2141.2007.06525.x pp.64-75
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Activating mutation of FLT3 by internal tandem duplications (ITDs) in the juxtamembrane region is the most common molecular aberration found in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). In this study, a lentiviral vector containing two promoters achieved consistent and efficient co-expression of FLT3/ITD and GFP in transduced human CD34(+) haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs). When cultured in medium containing stem cell factor, thrombopoietin and FLT3 ligand (FL), FLT3/ITD-transduced cells demonstrated enhanced self-renewal and survival potential, unaffected by the withdrawal of FL. These cells retained a CD34(+)CD38(-/dim) immunophenotype, typical of HSPCs. Compared to cells transduced with a vector expressing GFP alone, FLT3/ITD-transduced HSPCs had a higher fraction of cells in active cell cycle. FLT3/ITD-transduced HSPCs were more sensitive to the induction of cytotoxicity by CEP-701, a selective FLT3 inhibitor, indicating a rapid 'addiction' to signalling through this oncogenic pathway. The FLT3/ITD-transduced HSPCs showed increased expression of Pim-1, c-Myc and Cyclin D3 (CCND3), each of which may contribute to the altered genetic programme instituted by FLT3/ITD signalling. Taken together, these results indicate that FLT3/ITD mutations may contribute to leukaemic transformation of normal HSPCs by prolonging survival, promoting proliferation and partially blocking differentiation. CEP-701 may act as a potent therapeutic agent for AML stem cells harbouring FLT3/ITD mutations.

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    Article: Elevated frequencies of leukemic myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells in acute myeloid leukemia with the FLT3 internal tandem duplication.
    Mareike Rickmann, Juergen Krauter, Kathrin Stamer, Michael Heuser, Gustavo Salguero, Eva Mischak-Weissinger, Arnold Ganser, Renata Stripecke
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    ABSTRACT: Some 30% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients display an internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutation in the FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) gene. FLT3-ITDs are known to drive hematopoietic stem cells towards FLT3 ligand independent growth, but the effects on dendritic cell (DC) differentiation during leukemogenesis are not clear. We compared the frequency of cells with immunophenotype of myeloid DC (mDC: Lin(-), HLA-DR(+), CD11c(+), CD86(+)) and plasmacytoid DC (pDC: Lin(-), HLA-DR(+), CD123(+), CD86(+)) in diagnostic samples of 47 FLT3-ITD(-) and 40 FLT3-ITD(+) AML patients. The majority of ITD(+) AML samples showed high frequencies of mDCs or pDCs, with significantly decreased HLA-DR expression compared with DCs detectable in ITD(-) AML samples. Interestingly, mDCs and pDCs sorted out from ITD(+) AML samples contained the ITD insert revealing their leukemic origin and, upon ex vivo culture with cytokines, they acquired DC morphology. Notably, mDC/pDCs were detectable concurrently with single lineage mDCs and pDCs in all ITD(+) AML (n = 11) and ITD(-) AML (n = 12) samples analyzed for mixed lineage DCs (Lin(-), HLA-DR(+), CD11c(+), CD123(+)). ITD(+) AML mDCs/pDCs could be only partially activated with CD40L and CpG for production of IFN-α, TNF-α, and IL-1α, which may affect the anti-leukemia immune surveillance in the course of disease progression.
    Annals of Hematology 04/2011; 90(9):1047-58. · 2.62 Impact Factor
Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.

Keywords

active cell cycle
 
acute myeloid leukaemia
 
altered genetic programme
 
cell factor
 
cells harbouring FLT3/ITD mutations
 
common molecular aberration
 
Cyclin D3
 
FLT3/ITD mutations
 
FLT3/ITD signalling
 
FLT3/ITD-transduced cells
 
FLT3/ITD-transduced HSPCs
 
internal tandem duplications
 
lentiviral vector
 
leukaemic transformation
 
normal HSPCs
 
potent therapeutic agent
 
prolonging survival
 
selective FLT3 inhibitor
 
survival potential
 
transduced human CD34(+)
 

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