Park, E., Chen, J., Moore, A., Mangolini, M., Santoro, A., Boyd, J. R., Schjerven, H., Ecker, V., Buchner, M., Williamson, J. C., Lehner, P. J., Gasparoli, L., Williams, O., Bloehdorn, J., Stilgenbauer, S., Leitges, M., Egle, A., Schmidt-Supprian, M., Frietze, S., Ringshausen, I. (2020). Sci Transl Med 12.
DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.aax9340(link is external)
Overcoming drug resistance remains a key challenge to cure patients with acute and chronic B cell malignancies. Here, we describe a stromal cell–autonomous signaling pathway, which contributes to drug resistance of malignant B cells. We show that protein kinase C (PKC)–β–dependent signals from bone marrow–derived stromal cells markedly decrease the efficacy of cytotoxic therapies. Conversely, small-molecule PKC-β inhibitors antagonize prosurvival signals from stromal cells and sensitize tumor cells to targeted and nontargeted chemotherapy, resulting in enhanced cytotoxicity and prolonged survival in vivo. Mechanistically, stromal PKC-β controls the expression of adhesion and matrix proteins, required for activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) and the extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK)–mediated stabilization of B cell lymphoma–extra large (BCL-XL) in tumor cells. Central to the stroma-mediated drug resistance is the PKC-β–dependent activation of transcription factor EB, regulating lysosome biogenesis and plasma membrane integrity. Stroma-directed therapies, enabled by direct inhibition of PKC-β, enhance the effectiveness of many antileukemic therapies.
