Telomerase activity, apoptosis and cell cycle progression in ataxia telangiectasia lymphocytes expressing TCL1

Individuals affected by ataxia telangiectasia (AT) have a marked susceptibility to cancer. Ataxia telangiectasia cells, in addition to defects in cell cycle checkpoints, show dysfunction of apoptosis and of telomeres, which are both thought to have a role in the progression of malignancy. In 1-5% of patients with AT, clonal expansion of T lymphocytes carrying t(14;14) chromosomal translocation, deregulating TCL1 gene(s), has been described. While it is known that these cells can progress with time to a frank leukaemia, the molecular pathway leading to tumorigenesis has not yet been fully investigated. In this study, we compared AT clonal cells, representing 88% of the entire T lymphocytes (AT94-1) and expressing TCL1 oncogene (ATM- TCL1 +), cell cycle progression to T lymphocytes of AT patients without TCL1 expression (ATM- TCL1-) by analysing their spontaneous apoptosis rate, spontaneous telomerase activity and telomere instability. We show that in ATM- TCL1+ lymphocytes, apoptosis rate and cell cycle progression are restored back to a rate comparable with that observed in normal lymphocytes while telomere dysfunction is maintained. © 2003 Cancer Research UK

The standardized herbal combination BNO 2103 contained in Canephron® N alleviates inflammatory pain in experimental cystitis and prostatitis

Urinary tract infections are among the most common types of infections and give rise to inflammation with pain as one of the main symptoms. The herbal medicinal product Canephron® N contains BNO 2103, a defined mixture of pulverized rosemary leaves, centaury herb, and lovage root, and has been used in the treatment of urinary tract infections for more than 25 years

ROR1 can interact with TCL1 and enhance leukemogenesis in E -TCL1 transgenic mice

Receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1) is an oncoembryonic antigen found on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells, but not on normal adult tissues. We generated transgenic (Tg) mice with human ROR1 regulated by the murine Ig promoter/enhancer. In contrast to nontransgenic littermates, such animals had B-cell–restricted expression of ROR1 and could develop clonal expansions of ROR1(bright)CD5(+)B220(low) B cells resembling human CLL at ≥15 mo of age. Because immune-precipitation and mass spectrometry studies revealed that ROR1 could complex with T-cell leukemia 1 (TCL1) in CLL, we crossed these animals with Eµ-TCL1-Tg (TCL1) mice. Progeny with both transgenes (ROR1 × TCL1) developed CD5(+)B220(low) B-cell lymphocytosis and leukemia at a significantly younger median age than did littermates with either transgene alone. ROR1 × TCL1 leukemia B cells had higher levels of phospho-AKT than TCL1 leukemia cells and expressed high levels of human ROR1, which we also found complexed with TCL1. Transcriptome analyses revealed that ROR1 × TCL1 leukemia cells had higher expression of subnetworks implicated in embryonic and tumor-cell proliferation, but lower expression of subnetworks involved in cell–cell adhesion or cell death than did TCL1 leukemia cells. ROR1 × TCL1 leukemia cells also had higher proportions of K(i)-67–positive cells, lower proportions of cells undergoing spontaneous apoptosis, and produced more aggressive disease upon adoptive transfer than TCL1 leukemia cells. However, treatment with an anti-ROR1 mAb resulted in ROR1 down-modulation, reduced phospho-AKT, and impaired engraftment of ROR1 × TCL1 leukemia cells. Our data demonstrate that ROR1 accelerates development/progression of leukemia and may be targeted for therapy of patients with CLL