Identification of mTOR as a novel bifunctional target in chronic myeloid leukemia: dissection of growth-inhibitory and VEGF-suppressive effects of rapamycin in leukemic cells

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has recently been described to be constitutively activated in B cr-Abl-transformed cells and to mediate rapamycin-induced inhibition of growth in respective cell lines. We have recently shown that rapamycin down-regulates expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a mediator of leukemia-associated angiogenesis, in primary CML cells. In the present study, we analyzed growth-inhibitory in vitro and in vivo effects of rapamycin on primary CML cells and asked whether rapamycin-induced suppression of VEGF in leukemic cells is related to growth inhibition. Rapamycin dose dependently inhibited growth of primary CML cells obtained from patients with imatinib-responsive or imatinib-resistant disease as well as growth of B cr-Abl-transformed imatinib-resistant cell lines. Moreover, we observed potent cytoreductive effects of rapamycin in a patient with imatinib-resistant Bcr-Abl+ leukemia. The growth-inhibitory effects of rapamycin on CML cells were found to be associated with G1 cell cycle arrest and with induction of apoptosis. In all cell types tested, rapamycin was found to down-regulate expression of VEGF. However, exogenously added VEGF did not counteract the rapamycin-induced decrease in proliferation. In conclusion, rapamycin inhibits growth of CML cells in vitro and in vivo and, in addition, down-regulates expression of VEGF. Both effects may contribute to the antileukernic activity of the drug in CML.