Notch signaling contribution to B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) development is still under investigation. The serendipitous onset of B-ALL in a patient affected by the germinal Notch mutation-dependent Alagille syndrome allowed us to establish a B-ALL cell line (VR-ALL) bearing a genetic loss of function in components of Notch signaling. VR-ALL is a common-type B-ALL cell line, grows in conventional culture medium supplemented with 10% serum, and gives rise, once injected into immunodeficient NOG mice, to a mouse xenograft model of B-ALL. Exome sequencing revealed deleterious mutations in some components of Notch signaling, including Jagged1, Notch1, and Notch2. In addition, VR-ALL is sensitive both in vitro and in vivo to γ-secretase inhibitors (GSIs) as well as conventional anti-leukemic drugs. For all these reasons, VR-ALL may help to gain more insights into the role of Notch signaling in B-ALL.
Notch signaling contribution to B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) development is still under investigation. The serendipitous onset of B-ALL in a patient affected by the germinal Notch mutation-dependent Alagille syndrome allowed us to establish a B-ALL cell line (VR-ALL) bearing a genetic loss of function in components of Notch signaling. VR-ALL is a common-type B-ALL cell line, grows in conventional culture medium supplemented with 10% serum, and gives rise, once injected into immunodeficient NOG mice, to a mouse xenograft model of B-ALL. Exome sequencing revealed deleterious mutations in some components of Notch signaling, including Jagged1, Notch1, and Notch2. In addition, VR-ALL is sensitive both in vitro and in vivo to γ-secretase inhibitors (GSIs) as well as conventional anti-leukemic drugs. For all these reasons, VR-ALL may help to gain more insights into the role of Notch signaling in B-ALL.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children, adolescents
and young adults. Many aberrations in some signaling pathways are involved in ALL
pathogenesis; amongst them, gain-of-function mutations in NOTCH1 gene
have been described in more than 50% of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
(T-ALL) cases, thus unraveling the role of Notch-mediated oncogenesis in lymphoid
tissues. Enhanced Notch1 activity in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells leads to
T-ALL-like disease in mice, while genetic loss of function or the use of pharmacological
Notch signaling inhibitors, such as γ-secretase inhibitors (GSIs), sensitize
T-ALL cells to glucocorticoid treatment. Notch signaling is an evolutionary conserved
pathway, consisting of 4 receptors (Notch1-4) and 5 ligands (Jagged1, Jagged2, DLL-1,
DLL-3 and DLL-4). Ligand binding induces γ-secretase-mediated cleavage of Notch
intracellular domain (NICD), which is transferred into the nucleus and interacts with
the DNA-binding protein RBP-J, thus inducing the expression of downstream target genes,
i.e. Hes1 and Deltex1 [1]. Notch signaling
dysregulation is involved in many malignancies, including ALL [2, 3]. Considering the number
and complexity of the interactions amongst Notch and several other intracellular
signaling pathways involved in cell survival, proliferation and apoptosis, the precise
role of Notch pathway can be hardly identified during the neoplastic lymphoid cell
development. Particularly, the role of Notch signaling in B-cell acute lymphoblastic
leukemia (B-ALL) pathogenesis is still under investigation due to the lack of specific
mutations. A relatively large number of B-ALL cell lines have been established to
investigate the contribution of signaling proteins to the disease. In this study, we
describe a new cell line (VR-ALL) derived from the bone marrow sample of a patient
affected by both B-ALL and Alagille syndrome (ALGS), and carrying multiple aberrations
in Notch components.ALGS (OMIM 118450), also known as Alagille–Watson syndrome or arteriohepatic
dysplasia, is an autosomal dominant genetic disease affecting Notch signaling pathway
and involving different organs, such as liver (lack of intra hepatic bile ducts leading
to chronic cholestasis), heart (malformations affecting the pulmonary outflow tract and
vasculature), skeleton (butterfly thoracic vertebrae due to fusion failure of the
anterior vertebral arches; typical facies with a broad forehead; digital fusiform shape
with hypoplasia of terminal phalanges), eyes (pigmentary retinopathy, cataracts,
posterior embryotoxon and/or anterior segment abnormalities), kidneys (renal dysplasia),
and central nervous system (intracranial bleeding) [4, 5]. Estimated prevalence, on the
basis of the presence of neonatal hepatic abnormalities, is 1:70,000; however, the
presence of variable expression, reduced penetrance, new mutations (~60%) and the
possibility of germline mosaicism likely determines the underestimation of the disease
frequency. Most cases (~97%) are caused by haploinsufficiency of Notch signaling
pathway, mostly due to mutations or (less often) locus deletions of the
JAGGED1 gene (20p11.2-20p12). Very rarely (<1%)
NOTCH2 mutations are responsible for the disease, with prevalent
renal involvement [4, 5].Here we performed a cellular and molecular characterization of VR-ALL cell line,
revealing that VR-ALL is a B-ALL cell line growing both in vitro and
in vivo in NOG mice. VR-ALL cell line is sensitive to Notch
modulators and conventional chemotherapeutic agents, such as cytarabine, doxorubicin and
dexamethasone. The availability of this new cell line with a natural loss of function in
Notch pathway will be helpful to assess the contribution of Notch signaling in the
pathogenesis of B-ALL and its chemosensitivity.
RESULTS
B-ALL cell processing and cell line stabilization
Mononuclear cells from bone marrow samples of the ALGS/B-ALL patient at diagnosis
were separated with density gradient centrifugation and cultured in complete RPMI
1640 at 37° C, 5% CO2. Cell number was relatively stable
till day 38 (Figure 1A). Then cells started to
grow exponentially and were successfully expanded and sub-cultured (Figures 1A, 1B). Cell growth capability was maintained
after short (−80° C) or long-term (liquid nitrogen) freezing and for
more than 1 year of culture; consequently, this homogeneous cell population was
considered as a cell line (VR-ALL).
Figure 1
Growth and morphological patterns of VR-ALL
(A) Initial proliferation rate of VR-ALL cells isolated from the
ALGS patient. Blast cells derived from the patient were grown in RPMI with
10% FBS, cell count was performed routinely. (B)
Proliferation rate of VR-ALL cells 3 years following isolation; cells were
grown in RPMI with 10% FBS, cell count was performed every 24 hours.
Data are reported as mean ± SEM of 4 independent experiments performed
in duplicate. (C) Cell morphology of B-ALL cell lines stained with
May Grunwald-Giemsa staining and observed using Axiovert Z1 Observer Microscope
(Zeiss).
Growth and morphological patterns of VR-ALL
(A) Initial proliferation rate of VR-ALL cells isolated from the
ALGSpatient. Blast cells derived from the patient were grown in RPMI with
10% FBS, cell count was performed routinely. (B)
Proliferation rate of VR-ALL cells 3 years following isolation; cells were
grown in RPMI with 10% FBS, cell count was performed every 24 hours.
Data are reported as mean ± SEM of 4 independent experiments performed
in duplicate. (C) Cell morphology of B-ALL cell lines stained with
May Grunwald-Giemsa staining and observed using Axiovert Z1 Observer Microscope
(Zeiss).
VR-ALL cell line characterization
Cells were negative for Epstein–Barr virus and mycoplasma (data not shown),
displayed a normal male karyotype (46, XY) and were negative for BCR-ABL fusion
transcript. VR-ALL cell line features were compared with those of two other
well-known B-ALL cell lines, i.e. RS4;11 and SUP-B15 [6, 7] through flow cytometric
analysis (Table 1) and May-Grünwald
Giemsa staining (Figure 1C). In line with the
immunophenotypic profile of the initial leukemic cells from the ALGSpatient, VR-ALL
cell line displayed multiple B-cell lineage markers, such as CD10, CD20, CD22, CD34,
CD38, CD45, CD58, cyCD79a and TdT, and lack of myeloid markers, such as CD13 and
myeloperoxidase (MPO), as well as T cell markers (Table 1). VR-ALL and the two other B-ALL cell lines shared a similar
morphologic pattern, i.e. blast cells of small to medium size with high
nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, one or more nucleoli and many intracytoplasmic vacuoles
(Figure 1C).
Table 1
Characterization of blast cells derived from bone marrow aspirate of the
ALGs/B-ALL patient
SSC/CD19+
ALGS patient
VR-ALL
RS4;11
SUP-B15
CD10
++
++
-
+++
CD13
-
+/−
-
-
CD15
+/−
+
+++
+
CD20
+
+
-
+
CD22
++
++
+++
+++
CD33
+
+
+
-
CD34
++
+
-
+++
CD38
++
+
++
++
CD45
+
+
++
-
CD58
++
+
++
+
CD66c
++
-
-
-
CD133
-
na
na
na
cyCD79a
++
+
-
+
cyIgμ
-
+
-
+
cytCD3
-
na
na
na
MPO
-
-
-
-
NG2
-
+
-
-
TdT
+
+
+
+
Flow cytometry analysis of patient's blast cells using fluorescent
conjugated antibodies specific to extracellular or/and intracellular protein
markers. For each antibody, the mean of fluorescence was normalized to the mean
of fluorescence obtained with its specific isotype conjugated to the same
fluorescent marker. “na”: not available.
Flow cytometry analysis of patient's blast cells using fluorescent
conjugated antibodies specific to extracellular or/and intracellular protein
markers. For each antibody, the mean of fluorescence was normalized to the mean
of fluorescence obtained with its specific isotype conjugated to the same
fluorescent marker. “na”: not available.
VR-ALL cell line proliferation and engraftment potential
VR-ALL cell line grew easily in RPMI or IMDM supplemented with 10% FBS,
1% L-Glutamine and 1% Penicillin/Streptomycin, similarly to RS4;11 and
SUP-B15 cell lines. VR-ALL cells were seeded at a density of 0.5-1 ×
106/ml. Population doubling time of VR-ALL cells was about 56 hours,
displaying similar proliferation rate with SUP-B15 cells, but slower than RS4;11
(Figure 1B). Tumorigenicity was assessed
in vivo through engraftment assay into immune-deficient mice. For
this purpose, 5 × 106 cells were injected into NOG mice. Eight
weeks following cell injection, mice were sacrificed and the organs were analyzed
through flow cytometry for the presence of humanleukemic cells (hCD45+
cells). Leukemic cell distribution in animal organs included peripheral blood (PB)
(10–15%), spleen (60–70%), liver (40–60%),
lung (5–10%) and bone marrow (70–90%) (Figure 2A). Mice receiving VR-ALL cell line
(n = 4) died within 70 days (Figure 2B).
Figure 2
Engraftment of VR-ALL cells into NOG mice
5 × 106 VR-ALL cells were injected via the tail vein into 8
to 12 week-old mice. Mice were either (A) sacrificed
(n = 4) at 8 weeks following the initial injection
of VR-ALL cells to evaluate leukemic burden in organs as levels of
hCD45+ cells, or (B) monitored (n =
4) for their survival. “Sham”: control or naive mice.
Engraftment of VR-ALL cells into NOG mice
5 × 106 VR-ALL cells were injected via the tail vein into 8
to 12 week-old mice. Mice were either (A) sacrificed
(n = 4) at 8 weeks following the initial injection
of VR-ALL cells to evaluate leukemic burden in organs as levels of
hCD45+ cells, or (B) monitored (n =
4) for their survival. “Sham”: control or naive mice.
Genomic pattern of VR-ALL cell line
To identify the putative causative variants of ALGS and B-ALL in the initial patient
affected by both diseases, we sequenced the whole exome of the patient and the cell
line. Among the most notable putative pathogenetic events, a p.P871R substitution in
JAGGED1 was observed. JAGGED1 is located in the
20p12 locus and is mutated in 94% of the individuals affected by ALGS [4, 5]. We
also found a missense variant in NOTCH2, the second gene whose
mutations are associated with type 2 ALGS [4].
To exclude mutations associated only with ALGS, we performed a whole genome
sequencing of 4 other patients suffering from B-ALL only. None of these patients
presented any mutation associated with ALGS, such as aberrations in
JAGGED1 or/and NOTCH2 (data not shown). In
addition, we also identified mutations in genes already reported for their
association with T-ALL and/or B-ALL [8];
notably, missense mutations were observed in PAX5,
NOTCH1, NOTCH3, EPHA2, NCOR1
and PIK3C2B (Table 2). To
support the results obtained and identify further putative pathogenetic variants for
B-ALL, we turned to disease-network analysis. We used two algorithms: Endeavour
[9] and ToppGene [10]. The results of gene prioritization are shown in Table 2. Interestingly, we observed a similar pattern
of mutation events between initial patient cells and the VR-ALL line (Table 2), thus confirming that the cell line
effectively originated from the initial patient.
Table 2
List of prioritized genes
Rank of genes
ALGS-PATIENT
VR-ALL cells
1
NOTCH1
NOTCH1
2
NOTCH3
NOTCH3
3
JAGGED1
EPHA2
4
EPHA2
PAX5
5
PAX5
CHUK/ERLIN1
6
PTPN11
STAT1
7
CHUK/ERLIN1
HD
8
STAT1
MST1
9
HD
LAMA3
10
MST
KRT18
11
LAMA3
TF
12
KRT18
NUMA1
13
TF
LTBP1
14
NUMA
NCOR1
15
LTBP1
SERPINA5
16
NCOR1
BCLAF1
17
BCLFAP
PABPC1
18
SERPINA5
PIK3C2B
19
PABPC1
LIG1
20
LIG1
PARP1
21
PIK3C2
JAGGED1
The rank of genes with potentially damaging mutations in different disease
prediction algorithms and the combined results.
The rank of genes with potentially damaging mutations in different disease
prediction algorithms and the combined results.
Notch signaling status in VR-ALL cells
Western blot analysis showed higher levels of Notch-1, Notch-3, Notch-4, Jagged-2 and
DLL-4 expression in VR-ALL cell line (Figure 3).
In general, molecular aberrations leading to ALGS, i.e mutations in
JAGGED1 and NOTCH2, are mostly associated with
decreased Notch signaling [11]. Consistently,
Western blot analysis of VR-ALL cells revealed low levels of Jagged-1 and absence of
Notch-2 proteins (Figure 3). Importantly the
Notch target gene HES1 was slightly detectable in VR-ALL compared to RS4;11 and
SUP-B15, suggesting that Notch signal could be effectively inactivated in VR-ALL
cells (Figure 3). Surprisingly, the treatment of
VR-ALL cells with Notch signaling inhibitors, i.e. GSI-IX and GSI-XII, reduced VR-ALL
cell proliferation and induced cell death (Figure 4A,
4B). In the in vivo mouse xenograft model of VR-ALL, the
treatment of mice with GSI-XII reduced leukemic burden in various organs (Figure
4C), but did not improve overall survival
(Figure 4D). As the pathway is not activated, as
shown by the low levels of Hes1 expression (Figure 3A), sensitivity of VR-ALL to GSIs could reflect either a
Notch-independent activity of these drugs [12]
or a non-CSL coupling of Notch signaling in VR-ALL cells [13].
Figure 3
Notch expression and activation in B-ALL samples
Immunoblot of VR-ALL cells and B-ALL cell lines RS4;11 and SUP-B15, probed for
Notch1-4, Jagged1-2, DLL4, Hes1 and GADPH. Data are representative of 6
independent experiments. “FL”: Full Length, “NTM”:
Notch Transmembrane Domain, “NICD”: Notch Intracellular
Domain.
Figure 4
GSIs reduces VR-ALL cell viability
(A) Relative proliferation of VR-ALL cells stained with CFSE and
treated for 2 days with GSI-XII (10 μM) and GSI-IX (15 μM); CFSE
dilution was analyzed though flow cytometry and expressed as relative
proliferation. Data are reported as mean ± SEM of 4 independent
experiments performed in duplicate **p <
0.01, **p < 0.001. (B)
Apoptosis levels in VR-ALL cells treated for 2 days with GSI-XII (10 μM)
and GSI-IX (15 μM); cells were stained with Annexin-V and propidium
before analysis through flow cytometry. Data are reported as mean ± SEM
of 4 independent experiments performed in duplicate
**p < 0.01,
***p < 0.001. (C–D)
Effect of GSI-XII administration on leukemic burden and mouse overall survival
after injection of VR-ALL cell line (DMSO: solvent of GSI-XII, negative
control).
Notch expression and activation in B-ALL samples
Immunoblot of VR-ALL cells and B-ALL cell lines RS4;11 and SUP-B15, probed for
Notch1-4, Jagged1-2, DLL4, Hes1 and GADPH. Data are representative of 6
independent experiments. “FL”: Full Length, “NTM”:
Notch Transmembrane Domain, “NICD”: Notch Intracellular
Domain.
GSIs reduces VR-ALL cell viability
(A) Relative proliferation of VR-ALL cells stained with CFSE and
treated for 2 days with GSI-XII (10 μM) and GSI-IX (15 μM); CFSE
dilution was analyzed though flow cytometry and expressed as relative
proliferation. Data are reported as mean ± SEM of 4 independent
experiments performed in duplicate **p <
0.01, **p < 0.001. (B)
Apoptosis levels in VR-ALL cells treated for 2 days with GSI-XII (10 μM)
and GSI-IX (15 μM); cells were stained with Annexin-V and propidium
before analysis through flow cytometry. Data are reported as mean ± SEM
of 4 independent experiments performed in duplicate
**p < 0.01,
***p < 0.001. (C–D)
Effect of GSI-XII administration on leukemic burden and mouse overall survival
after injection of VR-ALL cell line (DMSO: solvent of GSI-XII, negative
control).
VR-ALL cell line is sensitive to anti-leukemic agents
As cell lines are a powerful tool to evaluate the activity of drug candidates [14], we assessed in vitro the
sensitivity of VR-ALL cell line to some classic anti-leukemic agents, such as
Cytarabine, Dexamethasone, Doxorubicin, Bortezomib and MG132. Increasing
concentrations of these pharmacological agents determined significant and
dose-dependent decrease in VR-ALL cell viability. The IC50 values for each drug are
shown in Table 3. Noteworthy, we observed that
VR-ALL cells were less sensitive to the treatment with Dexamethasone than the two
other B-ALL cell lines. Accordingly, the pretreatment of the Alagille patient with
steroids failed to induce a significant decrease of the leukemic burden.
Glucocorticoid resistance has been described as a hallmark of treatment failure in
B-ALL [14]. Thus, VR-ALL could be a good tool
to investigate the mechanisms of B-ALL relapse determined by glucocorticoid
refractoriness.
Table 3
Sensitivity of B-ALL cell lines to drugs
Drugs
VR-ALL (a)
RS4 ;11 (b)
SUP-B15 (c)
P-values
Bortezomid
a vs b
P = 0.01
3.11 × 10−9
1.5 × 10−9
4.1 × 10−9
a vs c
P = 0.5
Cytarabine
a vs b
P = 0.11
5.3 × 10−7
8.4 × 10−7
6.4 × 10−7
a vs c
P = 0.15
Dexamethasone
a vs b
P = 0.03
1.2 × 10−8
3.1 × 10-9
4.2 × 10−9
a vs c
P = 0.04
Doxorubicin
a vs b
P = 0.11
1.6 × 10−8
1.9 × 10-8
2.1 × 10−8
a vs c
P = 0.03
MG132
a vs b
P = 0.01
1.8 × 10−7
1.2 × 10−7
1.7 × 10−7
a vs c
P = 0.17
Cells were cultured for 48 h with increasing concentration of each drug. Then
cell viability was assessed through MTS assay. The effective concentration to
induce 50% reduction of B-ALL cells viability (IC50) derived from the
equations that best fit the linear range of the dose-response curve. Each
experimental condition was done in 8 replicates and repeated at least two
times. “vs”: versus.
Cells were cultured for 48 h with increasing concentration of each drug. Then
cell viability was assessed through MTS assay. The effective concentration to
induce 50% reduction of B-ALL cells viability (IC50) derived from the
equations that best fit the linear range of the dose-response curve. Each
experimental condition was done in 8 replicates and repeated at least two
times. “vs”: versus.
DISCUSSION
The availability of disease-specific cell lines, as versatile and informative in
vitro models, offers the unique opportunity to analyze the pathobiology of
humanmalignancies [15]. In this study, we
described the biological features of a new human B-ALL cell line derived from bone
marrow mononuclear cells of an ALGSpatient affected by BCR-ABL-negative, common B-ALL.
Flow-cytometric characterization revealed the B-ALL immunophenotype of VR-ALL cell line,
with some antigen features in common with the pre-B-ALL cell line RS4;11. VR-ALL cell
line retained after more than three years from initial diagnosis, the same antigen
pattern observed in the primary sample from the patient, thus proving cell stability in
culture.The autonomous and growth factor-independent proliferation of the cultured cells is an
important property of the cell lines used in cancer research [16]. VR-ALL cells were grown in normal RPMI medium supplemented with
10% FBS, displaying a proliferation rate almost equivalent to RS4;11 and SUP-B15
cell lines. In addition, we successfully obtained B-ALL xenograft models by injecting
VR-ALL cells in the tail vein of NOG mice, thus highlighting the tumorigenic anchorage
capacity of the cell line into immunodeficientmice [17]. The above-mentioned features are both fundamental for the evaluation of
drug sensitivity in vitro and in vivo. In fact,
in vitro treatment of cell lines with active compounds represents
the early phase of drug development [18] and
provides additional prognostic information in ALL [19], while the cell line-based xenograft models, due to their high
reproducibility, reduce the number of potential bias interfering with the evaluation of
drug sensitivity in vivo [20].VR-ALL cell line derived from a patient who was refractory to steroid treatment and
eventually relapsed. When compared to the B-ALL cell lines RS4;11 and SUP-B15, VR-ALL
cell line did not display significant difference in drug sensitivity, except for
Dexamethasone. Resistance to glucocorticoids has been reported as a relapse hallmark in
ALL, and resistance to glucocorticoids in vitro is associated with
unfavorable prognosis [14]. Growing evidence
supports the concept that Notch inhibition through GSIs can abrogate glucocorticoid
resistance. Mechanistically, GSIs increase transcriptional upregulation of the
glucocorticoid receptor and target genes, thus promoting glucocorticoid-mediated
apoptosis in T-ALL primary cells and T-ALL cell lines, such as CUTTL1, KOPT1 and T-ALL1
[21, 22]. To our knowledge, VR-ALL is the first B-ALL cell line carrying a background
of ALGS, an inherited disease characterized by loss-of-function in Notch components.
Some rare and inherited diseases are characterized by molecular lesions promoting cancer
diseases [23]. For example, RASopathies, such as
Noonan syndrome, Neurofibromatosis 1 and Leopard syndrome, are a subtype of
developmental diseases characterized by mutations in genes encoding for components of
the Ras/MAPK pathway (NF1, PTPN1, SOS1, RAF1,
KRAS, NRAS, SHOC2, CBL) [24, 25]. RASopathies are associated to higher risk to
develop AML, ALL and Myeloproliferative/Myelodysplastic syndromes [26-28]. In VR-ALL
cells, the analysis of Notch expression pattern showed that the pathway was present but
poorly active, as demonstrated by the absence of Notch target gene
HES1, thus revealing that the mutations observed in the components of
Notch signaling had led to a loss-of-function effect, switching off the pathway
signaling. This appears in contrast to the higher sensitivity of VR-ALL cells to
GSI-XII, suggesting a Notch independent action of GSIs [12]. Nevertheless, gamma-secretase complexes have many other substrates
besides Notch involved in cell viability, including CD44, β-catenin,
GSK-3β, and N-cadherin [29-31]. Their inhibition could then be achieved by
using GSIs, thus leading to growth arrest in a Notch-independent manner. On the other
hand, evidence from studies revealed that GSIs can display anti-leukemic activity by a
direct inhibition of the proteasome [32, 33]. Consistently, Meng et al.
proposed that some GSIs may reduce B-ALL cell viability through proteasome inhibition
[32, 33]. Accordingly, we observed that VR-ALL cells were highly sensitive to some
proteasome inhibitors, such as MG132 and Bortezomib. Hence, VR-ALL cells represent a
tool that may help to gain more insights into the Notch-independent anti-leukemic
activity of GSIs. In addition, we and other groups have previously demonstrated that the
expression and activation of the Notch pathway could also depend on the interaction with
stromal cells [34, 35]. Therefore, 2D-co-culture of VR-ALL cells with stromal cells may
give additional information on Notch signaling expression, activation and contribution
to leukemic cell support; more generally, VR-ALL cell line may help to understand B-ALL
pathogenesis and represents a good tool to better unravel the mechanistic role of Notch
signaling in B-ALL.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Case report, samples and cell lines
Peripheral blood and bone marrow samples were collected from a 20-year-old man with
ALGS, mainly with liver, heart and skeleton involvement, who developed a
Philadelphia-negative, normal karyotype (46, XY), common B-ALL
(CD19+++, CD10++, CD13–,
CD15+/−, CD20+, CD22++, CD33+,
CD34++, CD38++, CD45+, CD58++,
CD66c++, CD133–, cyμ–, cytCD3–,
MPO–, NG2- and TdT (Table 1). Because
of parents (who had the parental authority) opposition, the patient did not start the
intensive chemotherapy, but received only pretreatment with steroids (with partial
response) and some doses of Vincristine, achieving a short-term hematologic complete
remission before going to overt disease progression and exitus. All samples were
collected before treatment, as approved by the Ethical Committee of Azienda
Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata Verona Italia (N. Prog. 1828, May 12,
2010 - ‘Institution of cell and tissue collection for biomedical
research in Onco-Hematology’). Leukemic cells from patient
peripheral blood displayed autonomous and external growth factor-independent
proliferation in culture and were considered as a cell line, referred to as the
VR-ALL cell line. Human B-ALL cell lines including VR-ALL, RS4;11, SUP-B15 were
cultured in complete RPMI 1640 (RPMI supplemented with 10% FBS, 1%
L-Glutamine and 1% Penicillin/Streptomycin). All cell lines were
Mycoplasm-free. Cell morphology was assessed with May Grunwald-Giemsa staining using
Axiovert Z1 Observer Microscope (Zeiss).
Western blotting
Cells were lysed with an appropriate amount of RIPA buffer (25 nM Tris pH 7.6, 150 mM
NaCl, 1% NP40, 1% Na-deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS) supplemented with
complete Protease Inhibitor (Roche) and 1 mM Na3VO4. Proteins were quantified using
BCA protein assay kit (Thermo Scientific) and separated on 10% or 12%
polyacrylamide gel. Subsequently, proteins were transferred onto nitrocellulose
membrane (GE Healthcare), labeled with the appropriate antibody and acquired by
LAS4000 (GE Healthcare) instrument. GAPDH was used as loading control.
MTT viability assay
To study the specific relative basal sensitivity of B-ALL cell lines to Notch pathway
modulators and chemotherapeutic agents, cells were seeded in 96 well-plates and
cultured for 48 hours in presence of increasing concentrations of each compound.
Then, the colorimetric assay with
3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT, Sigma-Aldrich) was
performed, as previously described [34].
Cell proliferation and viability assays
Cell proliferation was evaluated by flow cytometry after
carboxy-fluorescein-succinimidyl ester (CFSE) staining (Life Technologies), as
previously described [34]. Briefly, cells were
washed twice with PBS and resuspended in 0.1% PBS-BSA, stained with CFSE (5
mM) for 10 minutes in the dark at 37° C and incubated 5 minutes on ice.
Stained cells were used in different experiments. Relative cell proliferation was
expressed as the percentage of CFSE median fluorescence (according to flow cytometric
analysis) of treated cells compared to that of cells treated with the specific
vehicle. Cell viability was assessed by TOPRO-3 staining, as previously described
[34].
Apoptosis
Apoptotic rate of B-cells was assessed using FITC-Annexin V/Propidium Iodide (PI)
staining, as previously described. Briefly, B-ALL cells were washed twice with PBS
and then stained with APC-conjugated anti-CD19 for 15 minutes in the dark at room
temperature. Cells were re-suspended in binding buffer (MiltenyiBiotec), and
FITC-conjugated Annexin V (MiltenyiBiotec) was added at 1 μg/mL final
concentration. The mixture was incubated at room temperature for 15 minutes in the
dark. Membrane integrity was assessed by PI staining, immediately before flow
cytometric analysis, by using a FACS Canto II (BD Biosciences).
Xenograft mouse model
NOD/Shi-scid/IL-2Rγnull (NOG) mice were purchased from Taconic (Germantown,
NY) and kept in pathogen-free conditions in the animal facility of the
Interdepartmental Centre of Experimental Research Service (CIRSAL) of the University
of Verona, as approved by the Italian Minister of Health. VR-ALL cells (5 ×
106) were injected via tail vein into 8 to 12 weeks old mice previously
irradiated with 1.2 Gy from a 137Cs source. Eight weeks following the
initial injection of VR-ALL cells, animals were sacrificed and leukemic burden was
quantified in organs as number of hCD45+ cells.
Genomic sequencing and analysis
Genomic sequencing and analysis are detailed in Supplementary Methods.
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