In:
Blood, American Society of Hematology, Vol. 120, No. 24 ( 2012-12-06), p. 4829-4839
Abstract:
Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been a remarkable success for the treatment of Ph+ chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, a significant proportion of patients treated with TKIs develop resistance because of leukemia stem cells (LSCs) and T315I mutant Bcr-Abl. Here we describe the unknown activity of the natural product berbamine that efficiently eradicates LSCs and T315I mutant Bcr-Abl clones. Unexpectedly, we identify CaMKII γ as a specific and critical target of berbamine for its antileukemia activity. Berbamine specifically binds to the ATP-binding pocket of CaMKII γ, inhibits its phosphorylation and triggers apoptosis of leukemia cells. More importantly, CaMKII γ is highly activated in LSCs but not in normal hematopoietic stem cells and coactivates LSC-related β-catenin and Stat3 signaling networks. The identification of CaMKII γ as a specific target of berbamine and as a critical molecular switch regulating multiple LSC-related signaling pathways can explain the unique antileukemia activity of berbamine. These findings also suggest that berbamine may be the first ATP-competitive inhibitor of CaMKII γ, and potentially, can serve as a new type of molecular targeted agent through inhibition of the CaMKII γ activity for treatment of leukemia.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0006-4971
,
1528-0020
DOI:
10.1182/blood-2012-06-434894
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Society of Hematology
Publication Date:
2012
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1468538-3
detail.hit.zdb_id:
80069-7
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