Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• You, Ruolan
• Wang, Bin
• Chen, Ping
• Zheng, Xiaoming
• Hou, Diyu
• Wang, Xiaoting
• Zhang, Beiying
• Chen, Ling
• Li, Dongliang
• Lin, Xinjian
• Huang, Huifang

Titel

Metformin sensitizes AML cells to chemotherapy through blocking mitochondrial transfer from stromal cells to AML cells

Ist Teil von

• Cancer letters, 2022-04, Vol.532, p.215582-215582, Article 215582

Ort / Verlag

Ireland: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Interaction between stromal cells and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells in bone marrow (BM) is known to contribute importantly to chemoresistance and disease recurrence. Therefore, disruption of a crosstalk between AML cells and BM microenvironment may offer a promising therapeutic strategy for AML treatment. Here, we demonstrate that in a niche-like co-culture system, AML cells took up functional mitochondria from bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and inhibition of such mitochondrial transfer by metformin, the most commonly prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes mellitus, significantly enhanced the chemosensitivity of AML cells co-cultured with BMSCs. The chemo-sensitizing effect of metformin was acted through reducing the mitochondrial transfer and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in the recipient AML cells. In addition, metformin potentiated the antitumor efficacy of cytarabine (Ara-C) in vivo in an NCG immunodeficient mouse xenograft model by inhibiting the mitochondrial transfer and OXPHOS activity in the engrafted human AML cells. Altogether, this study identifies a potential application of metformin in sensitizing AML cells to chemotherapy and unveils a novel mechanism by which metformin executes such effect via blocking the mitochondrial transfer from stromal cells to AML cells. •AML cells take up functional mitochondria from bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs).•Stromal cells render AML cells chemoresistance.•Metformin enhanced the chemosensitivity of AML cells co-cultured with BMSCs.•Metformin's mechanism of action involves blocking mitochondrial transfer.