The clerodane diterpene casearin J induces apoptosis of T-ALL cells through SERCA inhibition, oxidative stress, and interference with Notch1 signaling

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive hematologic malignancy that preferentially affects children and adolescents. Over 50% of human T-ALLs possess activating mutations of Notch1. The clerodane diterpene casearin J (CJ) is a natural product that inhibits the sarcoendoplasmatic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) pump and induces cell death in leukemia cells, but the molecular mechanism of cytotoxicity remains poorly understood. Here we show that owing to SERCA pump inhibition, CJ induces depletion of the endoplasmic reticulum calcium pools, oxidative stress, and apoptosis via the intrinsic signaling pathway. Moreover, Notch1 signaling is reduced in T-ALL cells with auto-activating mutations in the HD-domain of Notch1, but not in cells that do not depend on Notch1 signaling. CJ also provoked a slight activation of NF-κB, and consistent with this notion a combined treatment of CJ and the NF-κB inhibitor parthenolide (Pt) led to a remarkable synergistic cell death in T-ALL cells. Altogether, our data support the concept that inhibition of the SERCA pump may be a novel strategy for the treatment of T-ALL with HD-domain-mutant Notch1 receptors and that additional treatment with the NF-κB inhibitor parthenolide may have further therapeutic benefits.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigaciones en Productos Naturales (CIPRONA)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Químic

Polysaccharide microarrays for high-throughput screening of transglycosylase activities in plant extracts

Polysaccharide transglycosylases catalyze disproportionation of polysaccharide molecules by cleaving glycosidic linkages in polysaccharide chains and transferring their cleaved portions to hydroxyl groups at the non-reducing ends of other polysaccharide or oligosaccharide molecules. In plant cell walls, transglycosylases have a potential to catalyze both cross-linking of polysaccharide molecules and grafting of newly arriving polysaccharide molecules into the cell wall structure during cell growth. Here we describe a polysaccharide microarray in form of a glycochip permitting simultaneous high-throughput monitoring of multiple transglycosylase activities in plant extracts. The glycochip, containing donor polysaccharides printed onto nitrocellulose-coated glass slides, was incubated with crude plant extracts, along with a series of fluorophore-labelled acceptor oligosaccharides. After removing unused labelled oligosaccharides by washing, fluorescence retained on the glycochip as a result of transglycosylase reaction was detected with a standard microarray scanner. The glycochip assay was used to detect transglycosylase activities in crude extracts from nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and mouse-ear cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). A number of previously unknown saccharide donor-acceptor pairs active in transglycosylation reactions that lead to the formation of homo- and hetero-glycosidic conjugates, were detected. Our data provide experimental support for the existence of diverse transglycosylase activities in crude plant extracts.Ondřej Kosík, Richard P. Auburn, Steven Russell, Eva Stratilová, Soňa Garajová, Maria Hrmova and Vladimír Farka