A Role for IL1RAP in Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Stem Cells Following Treatment and Progression

Background

Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) evolves as many patients who are responsive to therapy upfront are resistant to the same agents when applied at relapse. We previously reported the results of our prospective efforts to formally assess the evolution of the leukemia stem cell (LSC) population(s) during patients’ clinical courses. We identified a 9-90 fold increase in LSC activity and greatly increased phenotypic diversity of the LSC population. To identify the potential mechanisms underlying these changes we further characterized functionally-defined LSC populations from paired diagnosis and relapse samples.

Methods

Primary bone marrow and peripheral blood samples were collected on IRB approved protocols from patients with newly diagnosed AML undergoing induction therapy as well as normal donors. Twenty-five patients who relapsed after achieving a complete remission were selected for further study. Screening studies identified seven patients whose pre-therapy samples demonstrated sustained engraftment of NSG mice following transplantation. Transcriptional profiling of highly enriched LSC populations from seven patients was performed using ABI TaqMan® Low Density Array (TLDA) qPCR analyses following pre-amplification using a novel 153 gene expression platform. Protein expression levels of interleukin-1 receptor accessory protein (IL1RAP) on bulk leukemia cells and LSC populations from 25 patients were assessed by flow cytometry. The impact of loss of IL1RAP was assessed using lentiviral based shRNA targeting all IL1RAP isoforms followed by assessment of proliferation, apoptosis, colony forming unit (CFU) activity and NSG engraftment capacity in human cell lines as well as in primary patient samples. Downstream signaling events for IL1RAP were probed using a small molecule inhibitor approach.

Results

While the majority of the LSC populations’ gene expression profile remained stable, twelve genes were differentially expressed between pre-treatment and relapsed LSC populations including IL1RAP. Flow cytometric analyses confirmed that IL1RAP is overexpressed on both bulk leukemia populations as well as LSC populations at diagnosis and relapse in comparison to normal hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) populations. Targeting ILRAP1 using shRNA in both cell lines and primary AML samples resulted in impaired proliferation, increased apoptosis, a marked loss of CFU capacity and impaired NSG engraftment. IL1 signaling is known to involve both the MAPkinase and NFKappB pathways. To determine which pathways are involved in IL1RAP mediated LSC survival, we performed a small molecule inhibitor screen targeting elements in both signaling cascades. Established inhibitors of the NFKappaB pathway resulted in loss in loss of leukemic cell function while MAPK signaling inhibition had minimal to no effect.

Conclusions

We identified IL1RAP as being overexpressed in both bulk leukemia and functionally defined LSC populations from pre-treatment and relapsed AML samples. Loss of IL1RAP was associated with a marked decline in LSC function. Preliminary studies support a primary role for the NF Kappa B pathway in LSC function. Our findings support a critical role for IL1RAP in LSC function and support its development as a target for AML therapy in both the upfront and relapse setting.