Proteasome inhibitors induce growth inhibition and apoptosis in myeloma cell lines and in human bone marrow myeloma cells irrespective of chromosome 13 deletion

In this study, we investigated the effects of cell-permeable proteasome inhibitors MG-132, MG-262, PSI, and lactacystin on multiple myeloma cell lines OPM-2, U266, RPMI 8226-S, freshly isolated plasma cells with or without deletion of chromosome 13 from patients with multiple myeloma and plasma cell leukemia, and CD34+ human hematopoietic stem cells. The effects of proteasome inhibitors on cell cycle progression, cell growth, and apoptosis were determined. MTT-assay was used to examine the cytotoxicity, and annexin-V staining to quantify apoptosis. Cell cycle analyses were performed using 7-ADD and Ki-67 staining by flow cytometry. PSI was the most potent proteasome inhibitor among those tested with a half maximal cytotoxicity (IC(50)) of 5.7 nM, followed by MG-262, MG-132, and lactacystin. Growth inhibition occurred irrespective of chromosome 13 status. Cell cycle arrest occurred in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Low, subapoptotic dosages led to a partial loss of Ki-67 antigen, whereas apoptotic dosages led to reduced Ki-67 levels. Apoptosis was partially dependent on activation of caspase-3, since Ac-DEVD-cho, a caspase-3 inhibitor, could reduce apoptosis significantly. The cytotoxicity of the four proteasome inhibitors tested was significantly lower in human hematopoietic stem cells than in myeloma cells. Our results show that proteasome inhibitors induce time- and dose-dependent cell cycle alterations, growth inhibition, and apoptosis in human myeloma cells irrespective of chromosome 13 deletion.