Abstract
B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells exist in patients as slowly accumulating resting as well as proliferating B cells. In this study, we examined whether Rapamycin and Curcumin, two naturally occurring compounds shown to have apoptotic effects, could selectively induce apoptosis in resting B-CLL cells. Mononuclear cells isolated from patients with B-CLL were treated with these agents and analysed by AnnexinV/propidium iodide binding, caspase activity, and changes in bcl-2/Bax ratio. Rapamycin and curcumin significantly induced apoptosis in resting B-CLL cells obtained from patients with CLL. Furthermore, rapamycin and curcumin increased caspase 9, 3 and 7 activity, decreased anti-apoptotic bcl-2 levels, and increased the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. These data suggest rapamycin and curcumin may be an effective treatment for B-CLL and are of high clinical significance considering the growing population of patients and lack of efficient treatment for this malignant disease.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 625-632 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Leukemia and Lymphoma |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2009 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authos thank Dr. Judith Radnay from the Hematology Laboratory, Sapir Medical Center, Meir Hospital, Kfar Sava, Israel, for her wisdom and advice. They also thank Dr. Rachel S. Levy-Drummer for the statistical analysis used in this article, Uriel Karo from the Flow Cytometry Unit, for his great help and advice in FACS analysis, Dr. Kathleen Griffioen from the Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute of Aging, National Institute of Health, for her advice in editing this article, and Marta Reshef from the Hematology Institute, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel, for skillful secretarial assistance. In addition, they thank the ISEF Foundation for the continuous support, and especially its president, Nina Weiner. This work was partly supported by The Dave and Florence Muskovitz Chair in Cancer Research, The Frieda Stollman Cancer Memorial Fund and Dr. Tovi Comet-Walerstein Cancer Research Chair. This study was part of Rami Hayun’s PhD thesis.
Funding
The authos thank Dr. Judith Radnay from the Hematology Laboratory, Sapir Medical Center, Meir Hospital, Kfar Sava, Israel, for her wisdom and advice. They also thank Dr. Rachel S. Levy-Drummer for the statistical analysis used in this article, Uriel Karo from the Flow Cytometry Unit, for his great help and advice in FACS analysis, Dr. Kathleen Griffioen from the Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute of Aging, National Institute of Health, for her advice in editing this article, and Marta Reshef from the Hematology Institute, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel, for skillful secretarial assistance. In addition, they thank the ISEF Foundation for the continuous support, and especially its president, Nina Weiner. This work was partly supported by The Dave and Florence Muskovitz Chair in Cancer Research, The Frieda Stollman Cancer Memorial Fund and Dr. Tovi Comet-Walerstein Cancer Research Chair. This study was part of Rami Hayun’s PhD thesis.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Frieda Stollman Cancer Memorial Fund |
Keywords
- B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL)
- Caspase
- Curcumin
- Rapamycin
- Sirolimus
- Turmeric
