Protein concentrations were determined with the Bio-Rad protein assay kit (Bio-Rad, Hercules,CA). in metabolism in CLL. These results demonstrate that the inhibition of SIRT1 and SIRT2 activity may be a new therapeutic approach for CLL. mutation with complex karyotype.2-5 (HDAC) enzyme activity, including the class III HDACs Sirtuins, has been found to be associated with the development of cancer.6,7 Sirtuins are NAD+ dependent ADP-ribosyl transferases with evolutionary conserved function in cellular metabolism and chromatin regulation.8 Seven sirtuins (SIRT1-SIRT7) have been identified in mammals at distinct subcellular locations and targeting different substrates. SIRT1, 2, 6, and 7 Rabbit polyclonal to ZCCHC7 are primarily found in the nucleus, SIRT2 in the cytoplasm and SIRT3, 4, 5 in the mitochondria. Sirtuins are associated with cancer as they deacetylate cancer associated transcription factors, and SIRT1 is overexpressed in acute myeloid leukemia, colon and prostate cancers.9 Several studies reported SIRT2 as a tumor suppressor as it is downregulated in human gliomas.10 SIRT1 and SIRT6 are reported to be significantly increased in CLL. 7 Several HDAC inhibitors are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. Although there are and studies using class I and class II HDAC inhibitors (HDACi)11-15 in hematologic malignancies, class III HDACi have not been studied in detail. We hypothesized that sirtuins play an important role in the development and maintenance of CLL and might be a target in CLL. In the present study, we have analyzed the expression of SIRT1 and SIRT2 in fresh CLL cells from patients and in the pro-lymphocytic leukemia (PLL) cell lines JVM-3 and MEC-2, and investigated the effects of sirtuin modulation using pharmacological inhibitors and SIRT1 and SIRT2 shRNA. Our data suggest that both SIRT1 and SIRT2 play an important role in CLL cell proliferation and may be a potential therapeutic target. Results SIRT1 mRNA is upregulated in Itraconazole (Sporanox) CLL We analyzed the differential expression of and mRNA between leukemic cells and normal PBMC by data-mining of the Oncomine microarray gene expression datasets. Oncomine is a bioinformatics initiative that collects, standardizes, analyzes, and delivers cancer transcriptome data to the biomedical research community.16 We found that expression was significantly upregulated in CLL (n = 448) compared with normal PBMC (n = 74) using the Haferlach leukemia data set17 (Fig.?1A). Furthermore was upregulated in other leukemias including acute myeloid leukemia (n = 542), B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 147), B-cell childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 359), myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 206) and pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 70) (Fig.?1A). The expression of was found to be lower in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 174) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (n = 76) (Fig.?1A & B). By contrast, expression remains unchanged in most leukemias, including CLL (Fig.?1C & D). Open in a separate window Figure 1. Expression of SIRT1 and SIRT2 mRNA in leukemia revealed by data mining of the Oncomine gene expression database. (A) SIRT1 expression in leukemia cells compared with normal PBMC using the Haferlach leukemia dataset from the Oncomine database (https://www.oncomine.org/resource/login.html). 0) Normal Itraconazole (Sporanox) PBMC (n = 74). 1) Acute Myeloid Leukemia (n = 542), 2) B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (n = 147), 3) B-Cell Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (n = 359). 4) Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (n = 448). 5) Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (n = 76) 6) Myelodysplastic Syndrome (n = 206). 7) Pro-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (n = 70). 8) T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (n = 174). (B) Differential expression of SIRT1 in normal PBMC and CLL cells obtained from the Haferlach data set. 1) Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell (n = 74) 2) Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (n = 448). (C) SIRT2 expression in leukemia Itraconazole (Sporanox) cells comparing with normal PBMC using the Haferlach leukemia dataset. (D) Differential expression of SIRT2 in normal PBMC and CLL cells obtained.