Background Imatinib mesylate is a standard therapeutic agent for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, is mainly prescribed in patients with multiple myeloma at present time, but it has been shown that bortezomib als...
Background Imatinib mesylate is a standard therapeutic agent for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, is mainly prescribed in patients with multiple myeloma at present time, but it has been shown that bortezomib also induces apoptosis and inhibits proliferation of CML cells in vitro. In this study, I investigated whether the combination of imatinib mesylate and bortezomib exerts better anti-tumor effects in CML in vitro.
Materials and methods Effects of the combination of imatinib mesylate and bortezomib on proliferation and apoptosis of K562 cells were studied. After incubation of the cells in serum-free medium for up to 72 hours, cell proliferation was measured by a modified MTT assay (CCK-8 assay), and cell cycle and apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry, based on the checkerboard principles. Expression of apoptosis-related proteins and activation of pro-caspases were analyzed by Western blotting.
Results Imatinib mesylate 0.3 nM, bortzomib 5 nM and their combination inhibited proliferation of K562 cells by 34.2%, 21.1% and 59.1% in 48-hour incubation, respectively, indicating that these two agent exert additive anti-proliferation effects. Decrease in S phase cell fraction in similar fashion was noticed. Imatinib mesylate 300 nM, bortezomib 5 nM, and their combination induced apoptosis of K562 cells by 63.0%, 48.7% and 79.1% in 48-hour incubation, respectively, indicating that these agents also exert additive effects in terms of apoptosis induction. Imatinib mesylate down-regulated the expression of Bcl-2, and the combination with bortezomib induced further down-regulation of this molecule. Imatinib mesylate and bortexomib, respectively, up-regulated the expression of Bad, and their combination induced further down-regulation of this molecule. Imatinib mesylate and bortezomib, respectively, activated pro-caspase-9 and pro-caspase-3, and their combination further enhanced the activation of these pro-caspases.
Conclusion These results indicate that imatinib mesylate and bortezomib exert additive antitumor effects in K562 cells in vitro.