CXCR4-mediated signaling regulates autophagy and influences acute myeloid leukemia cell survival and drug resistance

CXCR4 surface expression is considered an independent prognostic factor for disease relapse and survival in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Herein, we investigated targetable autophagy-related mechanisms of CXCR4 for AML therapy. Our experiments show that activation of CXCR4 signaling in AML cells increases autophagic activity and decreases cytarabine-induced apoptosis. Accordingly, combined use of autophagy inhibitors significantly increased the sensitivity of AML cells to cytarabine in vitro and in vivo.

Source: Cancer Letters - March 22, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Xiaojia Hu, Shuang Mei, Wenfang Meng, Shihang Xue, Jiang Lejian, Yang Yang, Lanlan Hui, Ye Chen, Min-Xin Guan Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research