Site Editors
Shaji K. Kumar, MD
Prashant Kapoor, MD, FACP
Shaji K. Kumar, MD
Prashant Kapoor, MD, FACP
Posted: Monday, May 22, 2023
Two investigators from China have described their discovery of the role of lysosome-associated membrane protein 5 (LAMP5) as a key gene in multiple myeloma, affecting its occurrence, progression, and recurrence. Chen and Ma, both of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China, explained in Pathology & Oncology Research that they used bioinformatics analysis to pinpoint LAMP5. They then learned it may exert its tumor-promoting effects in multiple myeloma mechanistically, at least in part through activation of the p38 protein.
Understanding that the knockdown of LAMP5 may induce apoptosis in multiple myeloma cells indicates that LAMP5 may potentially become a new therapeutic target in this disease. The researchers used flow cytometry and Western blotting to explore the effects of LAMP5 silencing on multiple myeloma cell apoptosis and cell cycle, finding that apoptosis was promoted by the silencing but that the cell cycle was not affected.
The investigators collected bone marrow from patients with multiple myeloma at different stages, as well as from healthy donors, and performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis of LAMP5. Its expression was lowest in the healthy donors, and it “gradually increased with the progression of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance to smoldering multiple myeloma, newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, and relapsed multiple myeloma,” they explained. Additionally, “patients with high LAMP5 expression have a higher Durie-Salmon stage and worse prognosis.” However, even in the current treatment landscape, LAMP5 expression seems to be lower in patients who have undergone treatment of myeloma than in those who are newly diagnosed with myeloma.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
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