1. Oncogenic FLT3-ITD supports autophagy via ATF4 in acute myeloid leukemia
- Author
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Heydt, Q, Larrue, C., Saland, E, Bertoli, S., Sarry, J-E, Besson, A., Manenti, S., Joffre, C, Mansat-De Mas, V, Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés (CITERES), Université de Tours-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Politecnico di Milano [Milan] (POLIMI), Centre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse (CRCT), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Physiopathologie Toulouse Purpan ex IFR 30 et IFR 150 (CPTP), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Tours (UT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Centre de Physiopathologie Toulouse Purpan (CPTP), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Tours
- Subjects
[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,hemic and immune systems ,Mice, SCID ,Activating Transcription Factor 4 ,Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays ,Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ,Mice ,fluids and secretions ,fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3 ,Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ,Mice, Inbred NOD ,Tandem Repeat Sequences ,hemic and lymphatic diseases ,Mutation ,embryonic structures ,Autophagy ,Biomarkers, Tumor ,Tumor Cells, Cultured ,Animals ,Humans ,Original Article ,Protein Kinase Inhibitors ,Cell Proliferation - Abstract
International audience; In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), internal tandem duplication mutations in the FLT3 tyrosine kinase receptor (FLT3-ITD) account for up to 25% of cases and are associated with a poor outcome. In order to better target this AML subtype, a comprehensive view of how FLT3-ITD impacts AML cell biology is required. Here, we found that FLT3-ITD expression increased basal autophagy in AML cells, and that both pharmacological and genetic inhibition of the receptor reduced autophagy in primary AML samples and cell lines. Conditional expression of shRNAs against key autophagy proteins demonstrated that autophagy is required for AML cell proliferation in vitro and for leukemic cells survival in a mouse model of xenograft. Importantly, autophagy inhibition also overcame FLT3 inhibitor resistance both in vitro and in vivo. The transcription factor ATF4 was identified as an essential actor of FLT3-ITD-induced autophagy. Cellular levels of ATF4 were highly dependent on FLT3-ITD activity, and downregulation of ATF4 inhibited autophagy-dependent AML cell proliferation and improved overall mouse survival similarly to autophagy inhibition. These results suggest that targeting autophagy or ATF4 in patients expressing FLT3 mutations may represent a novel promising and innovative therapeutic strategy for AML.
- Published
- 2018