Metformin suppresses the growth of leukemia cells partly through downregulation of AXL receptor tyrosine kinase

•Metformin inhibited the growth of leukemia cells partly through downregulation of AXL kinase.•Metformin augmented the growth-suppressive effect of an AXL inhibitor TP-0903.•Metformin blocked AXL upregulation induced by doxorubicin.•Metformin downregulated TYRO3 and MERTK in some leukemia cells.•Met...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Leukemia research 2020-07, Vol.94, p.106383-106383, Article 106383
Hauptverfasser: Saito, Tatsuya, Itoh, Mai, Tohda, Shuji
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:•Metformin inhibited the growth of leukemia cells partly through downregulation of AXL kinase.•Metformin augmented the growth-suppressive effect of an AXL inhibitor TP-0903.•Metformin blocked AXL upregulation induced by doxorubicin.•Metformin downregulated TYRO3 and MERTK in some leukemia cells.•Metformin can be used as an adjuvant in patients with leukemia cells expressing AXL. Metformin is an anti-diabetic drug known to have anticancer activity by inhibiting mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR); however, other molecular mechanisms may also be involved. In this study, we examined the effects of metformin on the activity of receptor tyrosine kinases of the TAM (TYRO3, AXL, and MERTK) family, which have important roles in leukemia cell growth. The results indicated that metformin suppressed the in vitro growth of four leukemia cell lines, OCI/AML2, OCI/AML3, THP-1, and K562, in a dose-dependent manner, which corresponded to the downregulation of the expression and phosphorylation of AXL and inhibition of its downstream targets such as phosphorylation of STAT3. Furthermore, metformin augmented the suppressive effects of a small-molecule AXL inhibitor TP-0903 on the growth of OCI/AML3 and K562 cells and prevented doxorubicin-induced AXL activation in K562 cells, which induces chemoresistance in leukemia cells, thus potentiating doxorubicin anti-proliferative effects. Given that metformin also downregulated expression of TYRO3 and phosphorylation of MERTK, these findings indicate that anti-leukemic effects exerted by metformin could be partly due to the inhibition of TAM kinases. Thus, metformin has a clinical potential for patients with leukemia cells positive for AXL and the other TAM proteins as well as activated mTOR.
ISSN:0145-2126
1873-5835
DOI:10.1016/j.leukres.2020.106383