Department of Biotechnology
inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine)

Chemotherapeutic drugs elicit stemness and metabolic alteration to mediate acquired drug-resistant phenotype in acute myeloid leukemia cell lines.

Publication Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

May 1, 2023

Journal

Leukemia research

Volume/Issue

128

ISSN

1873-5835

Chemotherapy resistance leading to disease relapse is a significant barrier in treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Metabolic adaptations have been shown to contribute to therapy resistance. However, little is known about whether specific therapies cause specific metabolic changes. We established cytarabine-resistant (AraC-R) and Arsenic trioxide-resistant (ATO-R) AML cell lines, displaying distinct cell surface expression and cytogenetic abnormalities. Transcriptomic analysis revealed a significant difference in the expression profiles of ATO-R and AraC-R cells. Geneset enrichment analysis showed AraC-R cells rely on OXPHOS, while ATO-R cells on glycolysis. ATO-R cells were also enriched for stemness gene signatures, whereas AraC-R cells were not. The mito stress and glycolytic stress tests confirmed these findings. The distinct metabolic adaptation of AraC-R cells increased sensitivity to the OXPHOS inhibitor venetoclax. Cytarabine resistance was circumvented in AraC-R cells by combining Ven and AraC. In vivo, ATO-R cells showed increased repopulating potential, leading to aggressive leukemia compared to the parental and AraC-R. Overall, our study shows that different therapies can cause different metabolic changes and that these metabolic dependencies can be used to target chemotherapy-resistant AML.

Alternate Journal

Leuk Res

PubMed ID

36906941

Authors

Raveen Stephen Stallon Illangeswaran
Daniel Zechariah Paul Jebanesan
Kezia Kanimozhi Sivakumar
Rakhi Thalayattu Vidhyadharan
Bharathi M Rajamani
Nancy Beryl Janet
Ernest David
Shaji Ramachandran Velayudhan
Vikram Mathews
Poonkuzhali Balasubramanian

Keywords

Humans
Cell Line, Tumor
Phenotype
Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute
Arsenic Trioxide
Antineoplastic Agents
Cytarabine