Abstract
P53 inactivation is often observed in Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) cells due to mutations in the p53 gene or overexpression of its negative regulator, murine double minute-2 (MDM2). This event is now considered an essential part of the oncogenic process. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is strongly associated with BL and is a cofactor in its development. We previously showed that nutlin-3, an antagonist of MDM2, activates the p53 pathway in BL cell lines harboring wild-type p53. However, nutlin-3 strongly induced apoptosis in EBV (-) or latency I EBV (+) cells, whereas latency III EBV (+) cells were much more resistant. We show here that this resistance to apoptosis is also observed in latency III EBV (+) lymphoblastoid cell lines. We also show that, in latency III EBV (+) cells, B-cell lymphona 2 (Bcl-2) is selectively overproduced and interacts with Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), preventing its activation. The treatment of these cells with the Bcl-2-homology domain 3 mimetic ABT-737 disrupts Bax/Bcl-2 interaction and allows Bax activation by nutlin-3. Furthermore, treatment with these two compounds strongly induces apoptosis. Thus, a combination of Mdm2 and Bcl-2 inhibitors might be a useful anti-cancer strategy for diseases linked to EBV infection.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e184 |
Journal | Cell Death and Disease |
Volume | 2 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Jul 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Acknowledgements. This work was supported by grants from the Fondation de France 00012093 (JW), the Cancéropole and Région Ile-de-France (ERABL, IF09-2092/R), the Association pour la recherche sur le Cancer 3454 (JW and EH) and the Université Paris-Sud 11 (BQR 2009). We thank Yann Lécluse for expert technical assistance in performing flow cytometry analysis.Keywords
- apoptosis
- Bax
- Bcl-2
- Burkitt's lymphoma
- EBV
- p53