Genomic and phenotypic characterization of nurse-like cells that promote drug resistance in CLL

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BlankGenomic and phenotypic characterization of nurse-like cells that promote

drug resistance in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

L Ysebaert and JJ Fournie

Leuk Lymphoma, July 1, 2011; 52(7): 1404-6.

Inserm U1037, Universit? Toulouse 3-ERL CNRS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France.

Here, we examined both genetic and phenotypic determinants of nurse-like cells

(NLCs) to better predict their putative functions in chronic lymphocytic

leukemia (CLL). We showed that NLCs belong to the wound-healing macrophage

subset (so-called 'M2 subset'), but most of all, unsupervised clustering

analysis positions NLCs as CLL-specific tumor associated macrophages (TAMs).

Chemokinome assays confirmed that NLCs secrete prototypical M2 cytokines and

chemokines. Extending previous reports of fludarabine resistance, NLCs are able

to promote multidrug resistance. Altogether, we propose that NLCs are not just

nursing, but actively participate in the setting of an environment-mediated drug

resistance (EM-DR) and immune escape for CLL cells.

PMID: 21699388