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IFN-β induces greater antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects and increased p53 signaling compared with IFN-α in PBMCs of Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma patients

Journal Contribution - Journal Article

Current first-line treatment for Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) includes combination therapy with interferon alpha (IFN-α) and zidovudine (AZT). The use of IFN-α in this treatment is mostly empirical in origin, whereas the therapeutic potential of interferon beta (IFN-β), has not yet been thoroughly explored in this context. Here we compare the effects of IFN-α and IFN-β treatment in short term ex vivo peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures from 22 ATL patients. Using proliferation, apoptosis and antiviral bioassays, complemented with microarray and gene set analysis, we demonstrate that in this setting IFN-β has superior antiproliferative and pro‑apoptotic effects than IFN-α. Increased p53 signaling is observed under the IFN-β treatment, while the antiviral effects are equivalent to those of IFN-α treatment. Notably, the genes in a published in vivo AZT/IFN-α response profile are affected more strongly by IFN-β than by IFN-α stimulus in these ex vivo PBMCs. In conclusion, this first comprehensive analysis comparing the effects of IFN-α and IFN-β on ex vivo PBMCs of ATL patients demonstrates that IFN-β has a greater impact than IFN-α on biological processes which have been shown to be crucial in the treatment of ATL, making IFN-β an intriguing candidate for further in vivo testing.
Journal: Blood Cancer Journal
ISSN: 2044-5385
Issue: 1
Volume: 7
Publication year:2017
BOF-keylabel:yes
IOF-keylabel:yes
BOF-publication weight:3
CSS-citation score:1
Authors:International
Authors from:Higher Education
Accessibility:Open