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Stromal cells and CD40 ligand (CD154) alter the miRNome and induce miRNA clusters including, miR-125b/miR-99a/let-7c and miR-17-92 in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Leukemia volume 26, pages 1113–1116 (2012)Cite this article

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cells exist in the lymph nodes, bone marrow and peripheral blood. Leukaemic cells within tissues survive and proliferate whereas in the peripheral blood they are quiescent and die readily. One of the causes for the failure of current treatments may be that signals from stromal cells, T-cells or other cells within tissues, as well as growth factors and chemokines, promote CLL cell survival. The mechanisms for increased survival within tissues are not well understood, but may provide novel targets for therapy.

Several culture systems are capable of maintaining CLL cells and driving proliferation. To supply stromal and T-cell elements, we employed mouse fibroblasts expressing human CD40 ligand (CD154) with IL-4.1 On direct comparison, murine stromal cells have a similar capacity to human stromal cells to support of B-cell survival.2 Short-term culture on this system is capable of reproducing some of the changes in protein expression observed in CLL cells within lymph nodes.3

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund to SDW.

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  1. Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine, MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    S Willimott & S D Wagner

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Correspondence to S D Wagner.

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Willimott, S., Wagner, S. Stromal cells and CD40 ligand (CD154) alter the miRNome and induce miRNA clusters including, miR-125b/miR-99a/let-7c and miR-17-92 in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Leukemia 26, 1113–1116 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2011.299

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