Establishment and characterization of a novel childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line, HXEX-ALL1, with chromosome 9p and 17p deletions

STR profiling in a cohort of Saudi patients with acute leukemia

Objective

This study was aimed at characterizing whether the autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) used in forensic identification might differ between leukemic blood samples and saliva samples.

Methods

Blood and saliva samples were collected from 27 patients diagnosed with acute leukemia in Riyadh City, KSA. DNA was extracted, and 15 STR loci were amplified.

Results

Approximately 59.3% of patients with leukemia exhibited mutations at the STR loci. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) occurred in 40.7% of the patients at D19S433, D16S539, vWA, D13S317, TH01, FGA, and D2S1338. Microsatellite instability (MSI) was detected in 22.2% of patients at TPOX, vWA, D19S433, D16S539, and D18S51. D19S433 and D16S539 were the most affected loci, exhibiting an alteration percentage of 18.52%, followed by vWA (11.11%); in contrast, D2S1338, D18S51, and TPOX were the least affected loci, showing a mutation percentage of 3.7%. D13S317, TH01, and FGA showed moderate genetic mutation (7.41%). CSF1PO, D21S11, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, and amelogenin did not show genetic changes in all samples. The overall genetic variability between saliva and blood samples significantly differed (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate the potential application of forensically used STR loci in diagnosis and monitoring of patients with leukemia. Further study applying next generation sequencing technology is necessary to validate these findings and explore the clinical applications of forensically used STRs as diagnostic tools for leukemia.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts in acute leukemia

Although the prognosis for acute leukemia has greatly improved, treatment of relapsed/refractory acute leukemia (R/R AL) remains challenging. Recently, increasing evidence indicates that the bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) plays a crucial role in leukemogenesis and therapeutic resistance; therefore, BMM-targeted strategies should be a potent protocol for treating R/R AL. The targeting of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in solid tumors has received much attention and has achieved some progress, as CAFs might act as an organizer in the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, over the last 10 years, attention has been drawn to the role of CAFs in the BMM. In spite of certain successes in preclinical and clinical studies, the heterogeneity and plasticity of CAFs mean targeting them is a big challenge. Herein, we review the heterogeneity and roles of CAFs in the BMM and highlight the challenges and opportunities associated with acute leukemia therapies that involve the targeting of CAFs.

Establishment and characterization of HXWMF-1: the first mouse fibroblastic tumor cell line derived from leukemia-associated fibroblasts

Background

Chemo-resistance is still a major obstacle in leukemia treatment. Accumulating evidence indicates that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), the most abundant stromal cells in tumor microenvironment (TME), play a crucial role in cancer progression and response to chemotherapy. To Figure out the role of leukemia-associated fibroblasts (LAFs) in relapsed/refractory leukemia, we constructed the first leukemia-associated fibroblastic tumor cell line, HXWMF-1.

Methods

A cell culture technique was used to establish the leukemia-associated fibroblastic tumor cell line. Molecular and cellular biological techniques including flow cytometry, MTT assay, western blotting, and short tandem repeat (STR) analysis were used to characterize the cell line. Nude mice were used for xenograft studies.

Results

We established a LAFs derived tumor cell line HXWMF-1, originated from the subcutaneous xenografts of HXEX-ALL1, a cell line originated from a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at the second relapse. The HXWMF-1 cell line was authenticated as a tumor cell line and being derived from CAFs based on morphologic, immunophenotypic, cytogenetic and STR analyses and tumorigenicity test in nude mice. To clarify the reliability of the method, we got the LAFs derived tumor cells from three different tumor mass of HXEX-ALL1 xenografts.

Conclusions

To our knowledge, HXWMF-1 is the first fibroblastic tumor cell line derived from LAFs or CAFs. In addition, the cell line provided firm evidence for that leukemia cells may induce LAFs/CAFs malignant transformation, which may help to develop brand new theory and therapeutic strategies for patients with relapsed /refractory ALL.

Establishment and characterization of a new gastric cancer cell line, XGC-1

Background

To establish a primary human gastric cancer cell line.

Methods

Fresh gastric cancer tissue samples were separated into a cell suspension, and DMEM/F12 medium containing 10% foetal bovine serum was used for primary culture and subculture. The morphology of the cells was observed under a light microscope, and the cell growth curve was plotted. A soft agar colony formation assay was used to detect the colony formation ability of the cell line. Immunohistochemical methods were used to detect cytokeratin, vimentin and Ki-67, the chromosome G banding method was used to analyse the karyotype of the cells, and the tumourigenic ability of the cells was detected by subcutaneous inoculation of BALB/C nude mice.

Results

We established a gastric cancer cell line from a 68-year-old male patient. This gastric cancer cell line was named XGC-1 and had a doubling time of approximately 48 h. The cell line displayed strong colony formation ability and tumourigenicity in BALB/C nude mice and had complicated chromosomal abnormalities. When nutrients were insufficient, the cells shed and floated in the medium, but adherent growth was observed in nutrient-rich conditions.

Conclusions

The XGC-1 cell line will be useful for future studies of gastric cancer development, progression, metastasis and therapy.