Is substance P central to the biology of acute lymphoblastic leukemia?

摘要

Nowicki et al. studied the effects of substance P (SP) on IL-1beta production using primary bone marrow (BM) cells from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). SP is the major peptide derived from the Tac1 gene, and has been associated with several hematological disorders . The study subjects were subdivided into two groups, based on the production of SP by leukemic blast cells . The authors reported on the production of IL-1beta by ALL cells. They showed SP as an autocrine stimulator and also reported stimulation by exogenous SP. The production of IL-1beta by SP in ALL cells is highly significant since this cytokine can potentiate BM fibrosis. Hence, SP production by leukemia cells might explain secondary BM fibrosis, commonly reported for leukemias . In this regard, this study is also relevant to myeloproliferative disorders and lymphoid leukemias with secondary fibrosis. In addition, the differences between the two study subsets might explain why some leukemias show secondary BM fibrosis compared to others with similar biology.