Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0079731 (B-cell lymphoma)
 16,671 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Flavopiridol is active against chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells in vitro and in the treatment of advanced stage disease, but the mechanisms of these actions remain unclear. Originally developed as a general cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, flavopiridol is a potent transcriptional suppressor through the inhibition of positive transcription elongation factor b (P-TEFb; CDK9/cyclin T). P-TEFb phosphorylates the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II to promote transcriptional elongation. Because most CLL cells are not actively cycling, and their viability is dependent upon the continuous expression of antiapoptotic proteins, we hypothesized that flavopiridol induces apoptosis in CLL cells through the transcriptional down-regulation of such proteins. This study demonstrated that flavopiridol inhibited the phosphorylation of the CTD of RNA polymerase II in primary CLL cells and reduced RNA synthesis. This was associated with a decline of the transcripts and the levels of short-lived antiapoptotic proteins such as myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1), and resulted in the induction of apoptosis. The B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein level remained stable, although its mRNA was consistently reduced, suggesting that the outcome of transcriptional inhibition by flavopiridol is governed by the intrinsic stability of the individual transcripts and proteins. The dependence of CLL-cell survival on short-lived oncoproteins may provide the biochemical basis for the therapeutic index in response to flavopiridol.
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PMID:Transcription inhibition by flavopiridol: mechanism of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell death. 1597 45

Despite recent improvements in treatment, a significant fraction of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) still fail therapy. Therefore, new therapeutic modalities are needed to advance the cure rate. Seliciclib (CYC202, R-roscovitine) is a purine analog developed as an inhibitor of CDK2/cyclin E CDK7/cyclin H and CDK9/cyclin T. Seliciclib has been shown to be active in B-cell neoplasms, such as mantle cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and in multiple myeloma in vitro. The aim of this study was to assess the in vitro activity of seliciclib in DLBCL. The anti-proliferative activity of seliciclib was tested in nine human DLBCL cell lines and six DLBCL primary cell cultures. The effects of seliciclib on the cell cycle and on apoptosis, as well as on transcription-related proteins were assessed. The cell viability of all DLBCL cell lines and primary cells was reduced by seliciclib treatment. The IC50 for the cell lines ranged from 13 - 36 microm. The effect of seliciclib was independent of the genetic aberrations characterizing the cell lines. After seliciclib exposure cells accumulated in G2/M or in G1 phase, with most of the cells showing signs of apoptosis. Despite the clear cytotoxic effect and induction of apoptosis, this study could not identify a unique mechanism of action. The in vitro data suggest that seliciclib is an active agent in DLBCL. Its efficacy is apparently independent of the underlying chromosomal translocations characteristic of DLBCL. The drug might represent a new therapeutic agent in this lymphoma sub-type.
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PMID:Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor seliciclib shows in vitro activity in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. 1732 59

Deregulation of the MYC transcription factor is a key driver in lymphomagenesis. MYC induces global changes in gene expression that contribute to cell growth, proliferation, and oncogenesis by stimulating the activity of RNA polymerases. A key feature in its ability to stimulate RNA Pol II activity is recruitment of pTEFb, an elongation factor whose catalytic core comprises CDK9/cyclin T complexes. Hence, MYC expression and function may be susceptible to CDK9 inhibition. We conducted a pre-clinical assessment of AZ5576, a selective CDK9 inhibitor, in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The in vitro and in vivo effects of AZ5576 on apoptosis, cell cycle, Mcl-1, and MYC expression were assessed by flow cytometry, immunoblotting, qPCR and RNA-Seq. We demonstrate that, in addition to depleting Mcl-1, targeting CDK9 disrupts MYC oncogenic function. Treatment with AZ5576 inhibited growth of DLBCL cell lines in vitro and in vivo, independent of cell-of-origin. CDK9 inhibition downregulated Mcl-1 and MYC mRNA transcript and protein in a dose-dependent manner. MYC-expressing cell lines demonstrated enhanced susceptibility to AZ5576. CDK9 inhibition promoted turnover of MYC protein, and decreased MYC phosphorylation at the stabilizing Ser62 residue and downregulated MYC transcriptional targets in DLBCL cells, a finding confirmed in a functional reporter assay, suggesting that CDK9 may govern MYC protein turnover, thus regulating its expression through multiple mechanisms. Our data suggest that targeting CDK9 is poised to disrupt MYC oncogenic activity in DLBCL and provide rationale for clinical development of selective CDK9 inhibitors.
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PMID:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase-9 Is a Therapeutic Target in MYC-Expressing Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. 3124 99