The chemokine interleukin-8 and the surface activation protein CD69 are markers for Bcr-Abl activity in chronic myeloid leukemia.

We have identified differentially regulated genes in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells upon short treatment with the broad-spectrum Bcr-Abl inhibitor dasatinib. The highly specific Bcr-Abl inhibitor nilotinib caused a very similar gene expression signature, validating the identified differentially regulated genes as a read-out of Bcr-Abl activity and implying that Bcr-Abl is the functionally central target of dasatinib in CML cells. Among the strongest downregulated genes, we have further validated the activation marker CD69 and the chemokine interleukin (IL)-8. Expression of both proteins is upregulated upon Bcr-Abl expression and inhibited by dasatinib and nilotinib. IL-8 may thus be a useful marker for the monitoring of CML inhibitor efficacy and play a potential pathophysiological role in CML.