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

CROCCI D; MORANDE P; DERGAN-DYLON S; BORGE M; TOSCANO M; STUPIRSKI J; BEZARES RF; SANCHEZ AVALOS J; NARBAITZ M; GAMBERALE R; RABINOVICH G; GIORDANO M

LEUKEMIA

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2012

0887-6924

Accumulation of neoplastic cells in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is conditioned by a variety of signals delivered by accompanying cells in lymphoid tissues. Here we examined the relevance of galectin-1 (Gal-1), a glycan-binding protein with immunoregulatory activity, within the CLL microenvironment. We found that peripheral blood monocytes as well as stromal and myeloid cells in bone marrow biopsies are the main source of Gal1. Knocking down Gal1 in in vitro differentiated nurse-like cells resulted in downregulation of cell surface activation markers (CD80, CD86, CD25) and inhibition of IL10 and CCL3 mRNA in CLL cells. Moreover, increased concentrations of Gal-1 were found in plasma from CLL patients compared to healthy subjects and higher expression of this protein was detected in bone marrow biopsies from patients with progressive disease. These results provide the first evidence of a role for Gal-1 in CLL cell differentiation, highlighting a novel clinical target for disease management.