Liposome-bound TRAIL induces superior DR5 clustering and enhanced DISC recruitment in histiocytic lymphoma U937 cells.

Human Apo2-Ligand/TRAIL is a promising antitumor agent. Our group demonstrated that TRAIL was physiologically released to the extracellular medium inserted in lipid vesicles, known as exosomes. Recently we demonstrated that artificial lipid nanoparticles coated with bioactive TRAIL (LUV-TRAIL), which resemble the natural exosomes, greatly improved TRAIL activity compared with the soluble form of this death ligand and were able to induce apoptosis in hematological malignancies. In this study we have deepened the underlying mechanism of action of LUV-TRAIL in hematologic cells. Using histiocytic lymphoma U937 cells, we demonstrated that TRAIL signaling almost exclusively depends on DR5 despite these cells expressing high amounts of DR4, and proved that LUV-TRAIL's higher pro-apoptotic effect relies on its superior ability to induce DR5 clustering on cell surface, therefore enhancing DISC recruitment and triggering caspase activation more efficiently than the soluble form of TRAIL.