Use of a novel histone deacetylase inhibitor to induce apoptosis in cell lines of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Chromatin structure and thereby transcription is controlled by the level of acetylation of histones, which is determined by the balance between histone acetyl transferase (HAT) activity and histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity. HDAC inhibitors are a class of compounds able to regulate gene expression by modulating chromatin structure. There are two major classes of HDAC inhibitors: the hydroxamic acid derivatives such as trichostatin A (TSA) or SAHA, and the butyrates such as phenyl-butyrate. HDAC inhibitors interfere with differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis in tumor cells. Here, we investigated the activity of a new hydroxamic acid derivative, LAQ824, on lymphoblastic cells. DESIGN AND METHODS Four different pre-B lymphoblastic cell lines: Sup-B15 and TMD-5, both t(9;22) positive, SEM, t(4;11) positive, and NALM-6 cells were exposed to the hydroxamic acid derivatives, LAQ824 and TSA. Histone hyperacetylation, apoptosis, cell cycle and related pathways were assessed by flow cytometry and Western blotting. RESULTS LAQ824 significantly inhibited the proliferation of leukemic lymphoblastic cell lines. The effect of LAQ824 was due to increased apoptosis accompanied by activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9, cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose)-polymerase (PARP) as well as by down-regulation of Bcl-2 and disruption of the mitochondrial membrane potential. Surprisingly, LAQ824-induced apoptosis was at least partially independent of caspase activation as indicated by the fact that LAQ824-induced apoptosis was inhibited only partially in both t(9;22) positive Sup-B15 and TMD-5 cells, whereas no inhibition was observed in t(4;11) positive SEM cells upon exposure to the polycaspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS Our study establishes that LAQ824 is a promising agent for the therapy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.