GM-CSF-dependent pSTAT5 sensitivity is a feature with therapeutic potential in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Granulocyte-macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) hypersensitivity is a hallmark of juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) but has not been systematically shown in the related human disease chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). We find that primary CMML samples demonstrate GM-CSF-dependent hypersensitivity by hematopoietic colony formation assays and phospho-STAT5 (pSTAT5) flow cytometry compared with healthy donors. Among CMML patients, the pSTAT5 hypersensitive response positively correlated with high-risk disease, peripheral leukocytes, monocytes, and signaling-associated mutations. When compared with IL-3 and G-CSF, GM-CSF hypersensitivity was cytokine specific and thus a possible target for intervention in CMML. To explore this possibility, we treated primary CMML cells with KB003, a novel monoclonal anti-GM-CSF antibody, and JAK2 inhibitors. We found that an elevated proportion of immature GM-CSF receptor-α(R) subunit-expressing cells were present in the bone marrow myeloid compartment of CMML. In survival assays, we found that myeloid and monocytic progenitors were sensitive to GM-CSF signal inhibition. Our data indicate that a committed myeloid precursor expressing CD38 may represent the progenitor population with enhanced GM-CSF dependence in CMML, consistent with results in JMML. These preclinical data indicate that GM-CSF signaling inhibitors merit further investigation in CMML and that GM-CSFR expression on myeloid progenitors may be a biomarker for this therapy.

publication date

  • April 30, 2013

Research

keywords

  • Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor
  • Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Chronic
  • STAT5 Transcription Factor

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC4347259

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84882396666

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1182/blood-2012-10-460170

PubMed ID

  • 23632888

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 121

issue

  • 25