Targeting Jurkat T Lymphocyte Leukemia Cells by an Engineered Interferon-Alpha Hybrid Molecule. Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology Yu, D. n., Du, Z. n., Li, W. n., Chen, H. n., Ye, S. n., Hoffman, A. R., Cui, J. n., Hu, J. F. 2017; 42 (2): 519–29

Abstract

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is a very aggressive T cell malignancy that carries a poor prognosis, primarily due to its resistance to chemotherapy and to life-threatening infectious complications. Interferon-alpha (IFNa) has been used in combination with the anti-retroviral drug zidovudine to treat patients with ATL. However, the efficacy of long-term therapy is significantly limited due to the systemic toxicity of IFNa.We utilized phage display library screening to identify short peptides that specifically bind to Jurkat T lymphocyte leukemia cells. By fusing the Jurkat-binding peptide to the C-terminus of IFNa, we constructed an engineered chimeric IFNa molecule (IFNP) for the treatment of ATL.We found that IFNP exhibited significantly higher activity than wild type IFNa in inhibiting the growth of leukemia cells and inducing cell blockage at the G0/G1 phase. The synthetic IFNP molecule exerted its antitumor activity by upregulating the downstream genes involved in the STAT1 pathway and in apoptosis. Using a cell receptor binding assay, we showed that this Jurkat-binding peptide facilitated the binding affinity of IFNa to the cell surface type I IFN receptor.The isolated Jurkat-binding peptide significantly potentiates the therapeutic activity of IFNa in T lymphocyte leukemia cells. The engineered IFNP molecule may prove to a novel antitumor approach in the treatment of patients with ATL.

View details for PubMedID 28578326