Fludarabine nucleoside modulates nuclear "survival and death" proteins in resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells.

The nuclear mechanisms by which fludarabine nucleoside (F-ara-A) induces apoptosis have been investigated in human MEC1 cells derived from B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Upon treatment of cells with F-ara-A (100 μM, 72 hours), 15 nuclear proteins changed in abundance by more than 2-fold. Nuclear proteins up-regulated included calmodulin (4.3-fold), prohibitin (3.9-fold), β-actin variant (3.7-fold), and structure-specific recognition protein 1 (3.7-fold); those down-regulated included 60S ribosomal protein P2B (0.12-fold), fumarate hydratase (0.19-fold), splicing factor arginine/serine-rich 3 (0.35-fold), and replication protein A2 (0.42-fold). These changes in the levels of specific proteins promote survival or apoptosis; because the end result is apoptosis of MEC1 cells, apoptotic effects predominate.