Browsing by Author "Chen, Fangli"

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    Classic and targeted anti-leukaemic agents interfere with the cholesterol biogenesis metagene in acute myeloid leukaemia: Therapeutic implications
    (Wiley, 2020-05-25) Chen, Fangli; Wu, Xue; Niculite, Cristina; Gilca, Marilena; Petrusca, Daniela; Rogozea, Adriana; Rice, Susan; Guo, Bin; Griffin, Shawn; Calin, George A.; Boswell, H. Scott; Konig, Heiko; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Despite significant advances in deciphering the molecular landscape of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), therapeutic outcomes of this haematological malignancy have only modestly improved over the past decades. Drug resistance and disease recurrence almost invariably occur, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of these processes. While low O2 compartments, such as bone marrow (BM) niches, are well‐recognized hosts of drug‐resistant leukaemic cells, standard in vitro studies are routinely performed under supra‐physiologic (21% O2, ambient air) conditions, which limits clinical translatability. We hereby identify molecular pathways enriched in AML cells that survive acute challenges with classic or targeted therapeutic agents. Experiments took into account variations in O2 tension encountered by leukaemic cells in clinical settings. Integrated RNA and protein profiles revealed that lipid biosynthesis, and particularly the cholesterol biogenesis branch, is a particularly therapy‐induced vulnerability in AML cells under low O2 states. We also demonstrate that the impact of the cytotoxic agent cytarabine is selectively enhanced by a high‐potency statin. The cholesterol biosynthesis programme is amenable to additional translational opportunities within the expanding AML therapeutic landscape. Our findings support the further investigation of higher‐potency statin (eg rosuvastatin)–based combination therapies to enhance targeting residual AML cells that reside in low O2 environments.
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    Pharmacological inhibition of Carbonic Anhydrase IX and XII to enhance targeting of acute myeloid leukaemia cells under hypoxic conditions
    (Wiley, 2021-12) Chen, Fangli; Licarete, Emilia; Wu, Xue; Petrusca, Daniela; Maguire, Callista; Jacobsen, Max; Colter, Austyn; Sandusky, George E.; Czader, Magdalena; Capitano, Maegan L.; Ropa, James P.; Boswell, H. Scott; Carta, Fabrizio; Supuran, Claudiu T.; Parkin, Brian; Fishel, Melissa L.; Konig, Heiko; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine
    Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive form of blood cancer that carries a dismal prognosis. Several studies suggest that the poor outcome is due to a small fraction of leukaemic cells that elude treatment and survive in specialised, oxygen (O2 )-deprived niches of the bone marrow. Although several AML drug targets such as FLT3, IDH1/2 and CD33 have been established in recent years, survival rates remain unsatisfactory, which indicates that other, yet unrecognized, mechanisms influence the ability of AML cells to escape cell death and to proliferate in hypoxic environments. Our data illustrates that Carbonic Anhydrases IX and XII (CA IX/XII) are critical for leukaemic cell survival in the O2 -deprived milieu. CA IX and XII function as transmembrane proteins that mediate intracellular pH under low O2 conditions. Because maintaining a neutral pH represents a key survival mechanism for tumour cells in O2 -deprived settings, we sought to elucidate the role of dual CA IX/XII inhibition as a novel strategy to eliminate AML cells under hypoxic conditions. Our findings demonstrate that the dual CA IX/XII inhibitor FC531 may prove to be of value as an adjunct to chemotherapy for the treatment of AML.
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    Stabilization of enzyme-immobilized hydrogels for extended hypoxic cell culture
    (Springer Nature, 2019) Hudson, Britney N.; Dawes, Camron S.; Liu, Hung-Yi; DImmitt, Nathan; Chen, Fangli; Konig, Heiko; Lin, Chien-Chi; Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
    In this work, glucose oxidase (GOx)-immobilized hydrogels are developed and optimized as an easy and convenient means for creating solution hypoxia in a regular incubator. Specifically, acrylated GOx co-polymerizes with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) to form PEGDA-GOx hydrogels. Results show that freeze-drying and reaction by-products, hydrogen peroxide, negatively affect oxygen-consuming activity of network-immobilized GOx. However, the negative effects of freeze-drying can be mitigated by addition of trehalose/raffinose in the hydrogel precursor solution, whereas the inhibition of GOx caused by hydrogen peroxide can be prevented via addition of glutathione (GSH) in the buffer/media. The ability to preserve enzyme activity following freeze-drying and during long-term incubation permits facile application of this material to induce long-term solution/media hypoxia in cell culture plasticware placed in a regular CO2 incubator.