Loss of PTEN Expression Induces NF-kB Via PI3K/Akt Pathway Involving Resistance to Chemotherapy in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cell Lines.

PTEN is a tumor suppressor gene responsible for downregulating the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3k)/Akt pathway. Loss of PTEN expression frequently occurs in human cancer leading to high Akt activation, which consequently confers neoplastic cell survival and resistance to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Here we report a mechanism by which loss of PTEN expression activates the transcription factor NF-kB through the PI3k/Akt pathway that induces activation of the IkBa kinase (IKK). Activation of NF-kB by loss of PTEN expression results in resistance to doxorubicin in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells. Initially, we examined 27 leukemia cell lines derived from children with ALL for the expression of PTEN and constitutive activation of NF-kB to evaluate whether there is a correlation between these two events. We found that 12 of the 27 lines lacked PTEN expression (PTEN-). Of 12 PTEN- ALL lines, 10 lines expressed constitutive NF-kB activation. In contrast, 11 of the 15 PTEN positive (PTEN+) lines were defect of NF-kB activation. Treatment of PTEN- line with PI3k kinase inhibitor Ly294002 caused downregulation of Akt activity accompanied by reduced activation of IKK and inhibition of constitutive NF-kB activation, resulting in increased sensitivity to doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Similar to treatment with Ly294002, transfection of the PTEN expression plasmid into the PTEN- lines attenuated constitutive activation of both Akt and NF-kB, thereby sensitizing these cells to doxorubicin. These results suggest that both constitutive and inducible activation of NF-kB play an important role in chemotherapy resistance, and that loss of PTEN expression is at least one reason for the constitutive activation of NF-kB in ALL cells.