Nurse-like cells control the activity of chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells via galectin-1

CROCI DO; MORANDE PE; DYLON DS; BORGE M; TOSCANO MA; STUPIRSKI JC; BEZARES RF; AVALOS JS; NARBAITZ M; GAMBERALE R; RABINOVICH G; GIORDANO M

LEUKEMIA

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2013 vol. 27 p. 1413 - 1416

0887-6924

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells are preferentially activated in so-called proliferation centers frequently found in lymph nodes and bone marrow from CLL patients.1 In these privileged sites leukemic cells establish close contact with a variety of cell types that provide long-term support for their survival and progression. In addition, CLL cells favor the establishment of immunosuppressive microenvironments by altering the cytokine milieu.2 Galectin 1 (Gal1), an endogenous beta-galactoside-binding lectin found at sites of inflammation and tumor growth, displays pro-survival activity on malignant cells as demonstrated for CD45RA primary myeloma cells.3 Moreover, controls tumor cell proliferation and invasiveness and has key roles in tumor-immune escape by dampening T-cell-mediated immunity.4 In Hodgkin lymphoma, Gal1 is overexpressed in Reed Sternberg cells, which is a predictive biomarker of disease progression and is responsible for creating the Th2/regulatory T-cell-skewed microenvironment typical of this lymphoproliferative disease.5 These unique characteristics of Gal1 prompted us to investigate its potential role in CLL biology.