Role of Autophagy in the Progression and Suppression of Leukemias
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DSpace@IZTECH Institutional Repository Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology 81 (2012) 275–285 Role of autophagy in the progression and suppression of leukemias Huseyin Atakan Ekiz, Geylani Can, Yusuf Baran ∗ Izmir Institute of Technology, Faculty of Science, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, 35430 Urla, Izmir, Turkey Accepted 25 March 2011 Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 275 2. Types and progression pathways of leukemia ............................................................................ 276 3. Autophagy: types and mechanisms ..................................................................................... 277 4. Autophagy and cancer ................................................................................................ 278 5. Role of autophagy in leukemic cell death and survival.................................................................... 279 5.1. Contribution of autophagy to cell death........................................................................... 279 5.2. Importance of autophagy in leukemic cell survival and drug resistance............................................... 280 6. Conclusion and future directions ....................................................................................... 281 Conflict of interest ................................................................................................... 282 Reviewers ........................................................................................................... 282 Acknowledgement ................................................................................................... 282 References .......................................................................................................... 282 Biography ........................................................................................................... 285 Abstract Autophagy is a physiological process in which cellular components are degraded by the lysosomal machinery. Thereby, organelles are recycled and monomers are produced in order to maintain energy production. Current studies indicate autophagy might suppress or augment survival of cancer cells. Therefore, by elucidating the role of autophagy in cancer pathogenesis, novel therapeutic intervention points may be revealed. Leukemia therapy has advanced in recent years; but a definitive cure is still lacking. Since autophagy often is deregulated in this particular type of cancer, it is clear that future findings will have clinical implications. This review will discuss the current knowledge of autophagy in blood cancers. © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Autophagy; Leukemia; Cell death; Chemotherapeutic resistance 1. Introduction the recycling of aged or damaged organelles, remodeling of cellular structures during development, cell death, and Autophagy is a signaling pathway which leads to degra- protection against bacterial infection [1]. Since it is impor- dation of cellular components by lysosomal activity. Due tant for homeostasis, defects in the autophagy pathway may to an enhanced supply of monomers originating from the lead to diseases or malignancies [2]. The exact role of cells own resources, this process is essential for survival autophagy in carcinogenesis, however, is still unclear but during stress. In addition, autophagy has been shown to be recent work in this field has helped substantially to improve important in a variety of other cellular processes including our understanding. Leukemia is cancer of blood forming tis- sues. According to their hematological origin, leukemia are ∗ classified as myeloid or lymphoid. The myeloid lineage is Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 232 7507515; fax: +90 232 7507509. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] responsible for the production of blood cells other than lym- (Y. Baran). phocytes. In correspondence with the hematopoietic lineage 1040-8428/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.critrevonc.2011.03.009 276 H.A. Ekiz et al. / Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology 81 (2012) 275–285 in which malignancy has occurred, leukemia are divided into epigenetic mechanisms are also important for ALL. In sev- two main groups: acute and chronic. Although there are novel eral studies, unusual levels of DNA methylation in ALL cells approaches being developed for eradication of leukemic cells, were shown to result in the suppression of the WNT pathway, the route to a definitive cure is not easy and requires a better P15INK4B and P21CIP1 [7–9] and upregulation of miR-128 understanding of intricate cellular mechanisms. Accumulat- [10]. ing studies provided evidence of alterations in autophagy Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) arises from the myeloid pathway upon malignant transformation and treatment with lineage. Some myelodysplastic or myeloproliferative dis- chemotherapy [3]. These findings suggest the importance of orders may turn into AML [11]. Chemotherapy may also this process as a possible target for the development of novel cause predisposition to AML. Especially chemotherapeu- therapeutic approaches in malignancies. tic regimens involving topoisomerase II inhibitors [12] or This review will compile what is known about the alkylating agents [13] were linked to such a predisposition. intersection of autophagy and leukemia research in the fol- Exposure to ionizing radiation also increases the incidence lowing sections. Various types and progression pathways of AML as observed in the surviving population of Japan of leukemias will be described first, and the mechanisms after atomic bombing [14]. There are also documented cases of autophagy will be briefly presented. Lastly, the involve- in which AML was developed by multiple members of a ment of autophagy in hematological malignancies will be family exceeding the predictions of random chance events discussed. suggesting that there might also be a hereditary basis of the disease [15,16]. In part because of these differences, this malignancy is grouped under four categories according to 2. Types and progression pathways of leukemia WHO classification [17]: AML with recurrent genetic abnor- malities, AML with multilineage dysplasia, therapy related Leukemia is the general term for hematological cancers AML; and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and lastly, occurring in the tissues responsible for blood formation. Sim- AML cases that are not suitable for classification in the previ- ilar to other types of cancers, leukemia are characterized by ously groups. The most common genetic aberrations of AML uncontrolled proliferation of cells, either in bone marrow or are t(8;21)(q22;q22) fusing the genes AML1 and ETO; inver- the lymphatic system. There are two main classes of leukemia sion of a portion of chromosome 16 causing the synthesis differing in their clinical and pathological properties. The of MYH11/CBFB fusion protein; t(15;17)(q22;q21) which first type, acute leukemia, is known to be more common causes dominant expression of an abnormal retinoic acid in children and characterized by the rapid proliferation of receptor by fusing the genes PML and RARα; and translo- immature blood cells. The second type, chronic leukemia, cations involving the 11q23 locus containing the MLL gene. progresses more slowly and involves leukemic cells which are These chromosomal aberrations were observed in nearly 30 relatively differentiated. Further classification of leukemia is percent of AML cases [18,19]. In addition to these major done based on the tissue of origin as lymphoid or myeloid, structural aberrations, numerous somatic mutations were which are explained in detail below. found to be associated with AML including mutations in Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) occurs in cells called the NPM1, KRAS2, CEBPA, ETV6, JAK2, and TET2 genes lymphoblasts which normally differentiate into mature white [20–26]. blood cells in healthy individuals. These undifferentiated Besides the acute forms, leukemia can develop chroni- cells are found in excess numbers in the blood stream while cally in a less aggressive manner. The most frequent form of they are confined to the bone marrow in healthy people. leukemia is the chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Inci- The main causes of the majority of ALL cases are not pre- dence of CLL increases with age and is more common in men cisely known, but there are some genetic and chromosomal than women. The disease is manifested by an increased num- aberrations documented in immature blasts. Key transcrip- ber of CD5-positive B-cells in the bone marrow and blood tion factors or signaling pathways proximal to the membrane stream. Uniquely, the accumulated cells are quiescent in the are thought to be targets of such aberrations. Transloca- G0 phase unlike the aggressive nature of most cancerous cells tions observed in ALL lymphoblasts involve the genes TAL1, [27]. Yet the presence of increased numbers of those cells in AML1, MLL, and TEL each of which is important in different the bloodstream suggests that these cells have a diminished stages of hematopoiesis [4]. The affected genes determine ability for self-destruction through apoptosis. Several studies the subtype of ALL as either B-lineage or T-lineage spe- aimed to shed light on the decreased ability of CLL cells to cific ALL. Burkitt’s lymphoma, one