Acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity, that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killing

Resistance to chemotherapy remains a major hurdle to the cure of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients. Recent studies indicate a minority of malignant cells, termed drug-tolerant persisters (DTPs), stochastically upregulate stress pathways to evade cell death upon acute exposure to chemotherapy wi...

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Main Authors: Yael Morgenstern, JongBok Lee, Yoosu Na, Brandon Y. Lieng, Nicholas S. Ly, William D. Gwynne, Rose Hurren, Li Ma, Dakai Ling, Marcela Gronda, Andrea Arruda, Avraham Frisch, Tsila Zuckerman, Yishai Ofran, Mark D. Minden, Li Zhang, Catherine O’Brien, Andrew T. Quaile, J. Rafael Montenegro-Burke, Aaron D. Schimmer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ferrata Storti Foundation 2024-11-01
Series:Haematologica
Online Access:https://haematologica.org/article/view/11834
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author Yael Morgenstern
JongBok Lee
Yoosu Na
Brandon Y. Lieng
Nicholas S. Ly
William D. Gwynne
Rose Hurren
Li Ma
Dakai Ling
Marcela Gronda
Andrea Arruda
Avraham Frisch
Tsila Zuckerman
Yishai Ofran
Mark D. Minden
Li Zhang
Catherine O’Brien
Andrew T. Quaile
J. Rafael Montenegro-Burke
Aaron D. Schimmer
author_facet Yael Morgenstern
JongBok Lee
Yoosu Na
Brandon Y. Lieng
Nicholas S. Ly
William D. Gwynne
Rose Hurren
Li Ma
Dakai Ling
Marcela Gronda
Andrea Arruda
Avraham Frisch
Tsila Zuckerman
Yishai Ofran
Mark D. Minden
Li Zhang
Catherine O’Brien
Andrew T. Quaile
J. Rafael Montenegro-Burke
Aaron D. Schimmer
author_sort Yael Morgenstern
collection DOAJ
description Resistance to chemotherapy remains a major hurdle to the cure of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients. Recent studies indicate a minority of malignant cells, termed drug-tolerant persisters (DTPs), stochastically upregulate stress pathways to evade cell death upon acute exposure to chemotherapy without acquiring new genetic mutations. This chemoresistant state is transient and the cells return to baseline after removal of chemotherapy. Yet, the mechanisms employed by DTPs to resist chemotherapy are not well understood and it is largely unknown whether these mechanisms are also seen in patients receiving chemotherapy. Here, we used leukemia cell lines, primary AML patient samples and samples from patients with AML receiving systemic chemotherapy to study the DTP state. We demonstrated that a subset of AML cells transiently increases membrane rigidity to resist killing due to acute exposure to Daunorubicin and Ara-C. Upon removal of the chemotherapy, membrane rigidity returned to baseline and the cells regained chemosensitivity. Although resistant to chemotherapy, the increased membrane rigidity, rendered AML cells more susceptible to T-cell mediated killing. Thus, we identified a novel mechanism by which DTP leukemic cells evade chemotherapy and a strategy to eradicate these persistent cells.
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publishDate 2024-11-01
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series Haematologica
spelling doaj-art-2ba74678957f4975aef05eb724f03ebc2025-08-20T02:32:42ZengFerrata Storti FoundationHaematologica0390-60781592-87212024-11-01999110.3324/haematol.2024.286018Acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity, that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killingYael Morgenstern0JongBok Lee1Yoosu Na2Brandon Y. Lieng3Nicholas S. Ly4William D. Gwynne5Rose Hurren6Li Ma7Dakai Ling8Marcela Gronda9Andrea Arruda10Avraham Frisch11Tsila Zuckerman12Yishai Ofran13Mark D. Minden14Li Zhang15Catherine O’Brien16Andrew T. Quaile17J. Rafael Montenegro-Burke18Aaron D. Schimmer19Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, TorontoToronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, TorontoToronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, TorontoTerrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, TorontoTerrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, TorontoTerrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, TorontoPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, TorontoPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, TorontoPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, TorontoPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, TorontoPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, TorontoDepartment of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, IsraelDepartment of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, IsraelHematology and Stem cell transplantation department and the Eisenberg R-D Authority, Shaare Zedek medical center, Hebrew University Jerusalem, IsraelPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, TorontoToronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, TorontoPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, TorontoTerrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, TorontoTerrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, TorontoPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto Resistance to chemotherapy remains a major hurdle to the cure of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients. Recent studies indicate a minority of malignant cells, termed drug-tolerant persisters (DTPs), stochastically upregulate stress pathways to evade cell death upon acute exposure to chemotherapy without acquiring new genetic mutations. This chemoresistant state is transient and the cells return to baseline after removal of chemotherapy. Yet, the mechanisms employed by DTPs to resist chemotherapy are not well understood and it is largely unknown whether these mechanisms are also seen in patients receiving chemotherapy. Here, we used leukemia cell lines, primary AML patient samples and samples from patients with AML receiving systemic chemotherapy to study the DTP state. We demonstrated that a subset of AML cells transiently increases membrane rigidity to resist killing due to acute exposure to Daunorubicin and Ara-C. Upon removal of the chemotherapy, membrane rigidity returned to baseline and the cells regained chemosensitivity. Although resistant to chemotherapy, the increased membrane rigidity, rendered AML cells more susceptible to T-cell mediated killing. Thus, we identified a novel mechanism by which DTP leukemic cells evade chemotherapy and a strategy to eradicate these persistent cells. https://haematologica.org/article/view/11834
spellingShingle Yael Morgenstern
JongBok Lee
Yoosu Na
Brandon Y. Lieng
Nicholas S. Ly
William D. Gwynne
Rose Hurren
Li Ma
Dakai Ling
Marcela Gronda
Andrea Arruda
Avraham Frisch
Tsila Zuckerman
Yishai Ofran
Mark D. Minden
Li Zhang
Catherine O’Brien
Andrew T. Quaile
J. Rafael Montenegro-Burke
Aaron D. Schimmer
Acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity, that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killing
Haematologica
title Acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity, that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killing
title_full Acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity, that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killing
title_fullStr Acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity, that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killing
title_full_unstemmed Acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity, that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killing
title_short Acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity, that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killing
title_sort acute myeloid leukemia drug tolerant persister cells survive chemotherapy by transiently increasing plasma membrane rigidity that also increases their sensitivity to immune cell killing
url https://haematologica.org/article/view/11834
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