Signaling through CD44 affects cell cycle progression and c-Jun expression in acute myeloid leukemia cells

摘要

We present here the first evidence linking CD44 signaling to c-Jun expression and cell cycle progression in myeloid cell line models. CD44 ligation with the anti-CD44 monoclonal antibodies have been shown to induce differentiation and inhibit the proliferation of human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells, and c-Jun is involved in the regulation of these processes. The effects of anti-CD44 monoclonal antibody A3D8, on myeloid cells were associated with specific disruption of cell cycle events and induction of G0/G1 arrest. Induction of G0/G1 arrest was accompanied by an increase in the expression of p21, attenuation of pRb phosphorylation and associated with decreased CDK2 and CDK4 kinase activities. We observed that A3D8 treatment of AML patient blasts and HL60/U937 cells led to the downregulation of c-Jun expression at mRNA and protein level. Transient transfection studies showed the inhibition of c-jun promoter activity by A3D8, involving both AP-1 sites. Furthermore, A3D8 treatment caused a decrease in JNK protein expression and a decrease in the level of phosphorylated c-Jun. Ectopic overexpression of c-Jun in HL60 cells was able to induce proliferation and prevent the anti-proliferative effects of A3D8. Targeting of G1 regulatory proteins and the resulting induction of G1 arrest by A3D8 may provide new insights into anti-proliferative and differentiation therapy of AML.