Treatment of Philadelphia-chromosome-positive human leukemia in SCID mouse model with herbimycin A, bcr-abl tyrosine kinase activity inhibitor.

Abstract

The molecular basis of the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1) is a structurally altered c-abl (bcr-abl) gene which encodes an abnormally large protein with protein tyrosine kinase activity. Herbimycin a, which effectively reduced intracellular phosphorylation by bcr-abl tyrosine kinase, preferentially inhibited the growth of Ph1-positive leukemia cell lines. Injection of Ph1-positive and -negative leukemia cell lines into mice with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) resulted in the death of all mice due to leukemia, although the severity of illness varied according to the cell lines used. Administration of herbimycin A significantly enhanced the survival of mice inoculated with the Ph1-positive leukemia cell lines tested but barely affected the survival of mice inoculated with the Ph1-negative leukemia cell lines tested. These results suggest that herbimycin A and related compounds may be useful for the treatment of Ph1-positive leukemia. The disease that developed using the Ph1-positive leukemia cell line NALM-20 resembled human Ph1-positive acute lymphoid leukemia. There was an inverse relationship between the survival time of mice and the number of cells inoculated. The SCID mouse-NALM-20 human leukemia chimera would be a good experimental model for screening tyrosine kinase inhibitors as therapeutic agents against Ph1-positive leukemia.

• Authors: Y Honma, Y Matsuo, Y Hayashi, S Omura
• Journal: International journal of cancer (Int J Cancer) Vol. 60 Issue 5 Pg. 685-8 (Mar 03 1995) ISSN: 0020-7136 [Print] United States
• PMID: 7860143 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Benzoquinones
• DNA, Neoplasm
• Lactams, Macrocyclic
• Neoplasm Proteins
• Quinones
• Rifabutin
• herbimycin
• Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
• Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl

Topics

• Animals
• Benzoquinones
• DNA, Neoplasm (analysis)
• Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
• Female
• Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl (antagonists & inhibitors)
• Lactams, Macrocyclic
• Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive (drug therapy, enzymology, pathology)
• Leukemia, Myeloid, Chronic, Atypical, BCR-ABL Negative (drug therapy, enzymology, pathology)
• Mice
• Mice, SCID
• Neoplasm Proteins (antagonists & inhibitors)
• Neoplasm Transplantation
• Phosphorylation (drug effects)
• Protein Processing, Post-Translational (drug effects)
• Protein-Tyrosine Kinases (antagonists & inhibitors)
• Quinones (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Rifabutin (analogs & derivatives)
• Tumor Cells, Cultured (drug effects)