Cellular Polarization and Its Impact on Growth of CLL Cells
Posted: Monday, March 23, 2020
Jan Dürig, MD, of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany, and colleagues, have discovered that CpG stimulation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells appears to induce a polarized cell shape, thus promoting migration both in vitro and in vivo. Although some CLL cells adopt polarized cell shapes spontaneously (10%–38%), the frequency of morphologically polarized cells seems to be strongly increased upon addition of specific CpGs. This molecular research study was published in PLoS One.
“Novel drugs being able to block the cell polarization processes and/or homing of CLL cells specifically, might help—potentially in combination with current drugs—to significantly reduce relapse rates in CLL therapy in the future,” concluded the authors.
The researchers found that stimulation with Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonists CpG oligodesoxynucleotide type B and CpGs type C significantly increased the frequency of morphologically polarized CLL cells, whereas CpGs type A had a marginal impact on cell polarization. CLL cells stimulated by CpGs type B and C also demonstrated higher migration activities in vitro and, following intravenous injection, higher homing frequencies to the bone marrow of immunocompromised mice.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
