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Effect of NF-κB/Rel inhibition on spontaneous vs chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in AML and normal cord blood CD34+ cells

Leukemia volume 17, pages 1190–1192 (2003)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

NF-κB/Rel transcription factors control several apoptosis-regulating genes, and substantial evidence that NF-κB/Rel inhibitors can improve apoptotic response to therapy in many experimental tumour models establishes NF-κB/Rel blocking as a promising adjuvant approach in chemotherapy.1,2 To this end, the ability of NF-κB/Rel inhibitors to either induce spontaneous or enhance drug-triggered apoptosis in specific neoplasias deserves careful investigation. Some reports document the regulatory activity of NF-κB/Rel factors in human primary lymphocytic3,4 or myeloblastic5,6 leukaemias. In order to evaluate NF-κB/Rel-targeting approaches for leukaemia therapy and/or bone marrow purging, the role of this transcription factor in sustaining normal haematopoietic progenitor cell survival also needs to be evaluated. In this respect, findings obtained with different inhibitors (nuclear localisation signal-competing peptides, decoy oligonucleotides or proteasome inhibitors) of NF-κB/Rel activity in CD34+ normal progenitors are conflicting,6,7,8 possibly because of the effects of some of these inhibitors on apoptosis-regulating molecules different from NF-κB/Rel.9 Here, we report a comparison of the effects of NF-κB/Rel-specific inhibitors on spontaneous or etoposide-induced apoptosis in AML and normal cord blood CD34+ cells, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biotecnologie Mediche (DBBM), Italy

    M F Romano, A Petrella & R Bisogni

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche (DIFARMA), University of Salerno, Italy

    M C Turco

  3. Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica (DMSC), University of Catanzaro “Magna Graecia”, Italy

    S Venuta

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Romano, M., Petrella, A., Bisogni, R. et al. Effect of NF-κB/Rel inhibition on spontaneous vs chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in AML and normal cord blood CD34+ cells. Leukemia 17, 1190–1192 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2402953

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