Upregulation of the immunosuppressive cell surface glycoprotein, CD200, is a common feature of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is associated with poor patient outcome. We investigated whether CD200 overexpression on AML cells could specifically compromise patient natural killer (NK) cell anti-tumor responses. We found that CD200hi patients showed a 50% reduction in the frequency of activated NK cells (CD56dimCD16+) compared with CD200lo patients. Additionally, NK receptor expression (NKp44 and NKp46) on these cells was also significantly downregulated in CD200hi patients. To assess whether NK cell activity was directly influenced by CD200 expression, we examined the effect of ectopic expression of CD200. These assays revealed that both NK cell cytolytic activity and interferon-γ response were significantly reduced toward CD200+ leukemic targets and that these targets showed increased survival compared with CD200− cells. Similarly, NK cells isolated from AML patients were less functionally active toward CD200hi autologous blasts from both cytolytic and immunoregulatory perspectives. Finally, blocking CD200 alone was sufficient to recover a significant proportion of NK cell cytolytic activity. Together, these findings provide the first evidence that CD200 has a direct and significant suppressive influence on NK cell activity in AML patients and may contribute to the increased relapse rate in CD200+ patients.

Redox regulation of proteins through oxidation and S-thiolation are important regulatory processes, acting in both a protective and adaptive role in the cell. In the current study, we investigated the sensitivity of the neuronal human cytosolic branched-chain aminotransferase (hBCATc) protein to oxidation and S-thiolation, with particular attention focused on functionality and modulation of its CXXC motif. Thiol specific reagents showed significant redox cycling between the reactive thiols and the TNB anion, and using NEM, four of the six reactive thiols are critical to the functionality of hBCATc. Site-directed mutagenesis studies supported these findings where a reduced kcat (ranging from 50-70% of hBCATc) for C335S, C338S, C335/8S, and C221S, respectively, followed by a modest effect on C242S was observed. However, only the thiols of the CXXC motif (C335 and C338) were directly involved in the reversible redox regulation of hBCATc through oxidation (with a loss of 40-45% BCAT activity on air oxidation alone). Concurrent with these findings, under air oxidation, the X-ray crystallography structure of hBCATc showed a disulphide bond between C335 and C338. Further oxidation of the other four thiols was not evident until levels of hydrogen peroxide were elevated. S-thiolation experiments of hBCATc exposed to GSH provided evidence for significant recycling between GSH and the thiols of hBCATc, which implied that under reducing conditions GSH was operating as a thiol donor with minimal S-glutathionylation. Western blot analysis of WT hBCATc and mutant proteins showed that as the ratio of GSH:GSSG decreased significant S-glutathionylation occurred (with a further loss of 20% BCAT activity), preferentially at the thiols of the CXXC motif, suggesting a shift in function toward a more protective role for GSH. Furthermore, the extent of S-glutathionylation increased in response to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide potentially through a C335 sulfenic acid intermediate. Deglutathionylation of hBCATc-SSG using the GSH/glutaredoxin system provides evidence that this protein may play an important role in cellular redox regulation. Moreover, redox associations between hBCATc and several neuronal proteins were identified using targeted proteomics. Thus, our data provides strong evidence that the reactive thiol groups, in particular the thiols of the CXXC motif, play an integral role in redox regulation and that hBCATc has redox mediated associations with several neuronal proteins involved in G-protein cell signaling, indicating a novel role for hBCATc in cellular redox control.

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BackgroundTopoisomerase II is essential for the maintenance of DNA integrity and the survival of proliferating cells. Topoisomerase II poisons, including etoposide and doxorubicin, inhibit enzymemediated DNA ligation causing the accumulation of double-stranded breaks and have been front-line drugs for the treatment of leukemia for many years. Voreloxin is a first-in-class anticancer quinolone derivative that intercalates DNA and inhibits topoisomerase II. The efficacy and mechanisms of action of voreloxin in acute myeloid leukaemia were addressed in this study. Design and MethodsPrimary acute myeloid leukemia blasts (n = 88) and myeloid cell lines were used in vitro to study voreloxin through viability assays to assess cell killing and synergy with other drugs. Apoptosis and cell cycling were assessed by flow cytometry. DNA relaxation assays were utilized to determine that voreloxin was active on topoisomerase II. ResultsThe mean lethal dose 50% (LD50) (± standard deviation) of voreloxin for primary acute myeloid leukemia blasts was 2.30 mM (± 1.87). Synergy experiments between voreloxin and cytarabine identified synergism in 22 of 25 primary acute myeloid leukemia samples tested, with a mean combination index of 0.79. Apoptosis was shown to increase in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, voreloxin was active in the p53-null K562 cell line suggesting that the action of voreloxin is not affected by p53 status. The action of voreloxin on topoisomerase II was confirmed using a DNA relaxation assay. ConclusionsVoreloxin may provide an interesting addition to the cache of drugs available for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, a disease with a poor long-term survival. In addition to its potent action as a single agent in dividing cells, the synergy we demonstrated between voreloxin and cytarabine recommends further investigation of this topoisomerase II inhibitor.Key words: voreloxin, topoisomerase II inhibitor, myeloid leukemia, synergism, cytarabine. cytarabine. Haematologica 2011;96(3):393-399. doi:10.3324/haematol.2010 This is an open-access paper. Citation: Walsby EJ, Coles SJ, Knapper S, and Burnett AK. The topoisomerase II inhibitor voreloxin causes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in myeloid leukemia cells and acts in synergy with

Specific proteins with reactive thiol(ate) groups are susceptible to nitric oxide (NO) modification, which can result in S-nitrosation, S-thiolation, or disulfide bond formation. In the present study the effect of NO modification on the functionality of human mitochondrial and cytosolic branched-chain aminotransferases (hBCATm and hBCATc, respectively) was investigated. Here, the NO reactive agents, S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), S-nitroso-N-acetyl-dl-penacillamine, and sodium nitroprusside, inactivated both isoforms in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, low concentrations of GSNO caused a time-dependent loss in BCAT activity (50 +/- 3% and 77 +/- 2% for hBCATc and hBCATm, respectively) correlating with the loss of four and one to two thiol groups, respectively, confirming the thiols as targets for NO modification. Analysis of GSNO-modified hBCATc by quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry identified a major peak containing three NO adducts and a minor peak equivalent to two NO adducts and one glutathione (GSH) molecule, the latter confirmed by Western blot analysis. Moreover, prolonged exposure or increased levels of GSNO caused increased S-glutathionylation and partial dimerization of hBCATc, suggesting a possible shift from regulation by NO to one of adaptation during nitrosated stress. Although GSNO inactivated hBCATm, neither S-nitrosation, S-glutathionylation, nor dimerization could be detected, suggesting differential mechanisms of regulation through NO between isoforms in the mitochondria and cytosol. Reversal of GSNO-modified hBCAT using GSH alone was only partial, and complete reactivation was only possible using the glutaredoxin/GSH system (97 +/- 4% and 91 +/- 3% for hBCATc and hBCATm, respectively), implicating the importance of a full physiological redox system for activation/inactivation. To conclude, these results clearly demonstrate distinct functional/mechanistic responses to GSNO modification between BCAT isoforms and offer intriguing comparisons between the BCAT proteins and the respective cytosolic and mitochondrial hTrx and hGrx proteins.

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Peroxiredoxin (PRDX) is a ubiquitous oxidoreductase protein with a conserved ionised thiol that permits catalysis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) up to a million times faster than any thiol-containing signalling protein. The increased production of H2O2 within active tissues during exercise is thought to oxidise conserved cysteine thiols, which may in turn facilitate a wide variety of physiological adaptations. The precise mechanisms linking H2O2 with the oxidation of signalling thiol proteins (phosphates, kinases and transcription factors) are unclear due to these proteins' low reactivity with H2O2 relative to abundant thiol peroxidases such as PRDX. Recent work has shown that following exposure to H2O2 in vitro, the sulfenic acid of the PRDX cysteine can form mixed disulphides with transcription factors associated with cell survival. This implicates PRDX as an ‘active’ redox relay in transmitting the oxidising equivalent of H2O2 to downstream proteins. Furthermore, under oxidative stress, PRDX can form stable oxidised dimers that can be secreted into the extracellular space, potentially acting as an extracellular ‘stress’ signal. There is extensive literature assessing non-specific markers of oxidative stress in response to exercise, however the PRDX catalytic cycle may offer a more robust approach for measuring changes in redox balance following exercise. This review discusses studies assessing PRDX-mediated cellular signalling and integrates the recent advances in redox biology with investigations that have examined the role of PRDX during exercise in humans and animals. Future studies should explore the role of PRDX as a key regulator of peroxide mediated-signal transduction during exercise in humans.