c-abl function in normal and chronic myelogenous leukemia hematopoiesis: in vitro studies with antisense oligomers

By using antisense oligomers the functional role of the c-abl proto-oncogene in the in vitro growth of bone marrow hematopoietic progenitors from normal subjects and patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) has been evaluated. Light density bone marrow cells (LDBMs) were depleted of adherent cells, pre-incubated for 15 h with the appropriate oligomer at a concentration of 14 microns, and then plated in methylcellulose for the evaluation of colony formation. Both anti-exon Ia and anti-exon Ib antisense oligomers produced a significant inhibition of normal day 14 CFU-GM growth in vitro (n = 5, 41 +/- 11%, and 36 +/- 7%, respectively; p less than 0.01). In contrast, normal BFU-E growth was not significantly influenced by antisense oligomers (n = 5, 14 +/- 21% and 7 +/- 19%, respectively; p less than 0.05). These findings were confirmed by plating CD34 positive progenitors. When interleukin 3 (IL-3) (100 ng/ml) was added to the culture medium during the preincubation of LDBMCs, the inhibitory effects of antisense oligomers on normal CFU-GM growth were abolished. Seven patients with CML were also studied, all of whom had cytogenetic evidence of 100% clonal hematopoiesis. In five patients in the chronic phase, antisense oligomers were inhibitory on in vitro growth of both day 14 CFU-GM (37 +/- 20% and 37 +/- 15%, p less than 0.05) and BFU-E (45 +/- 15% and 41 +/- 11%, p less than 0.05), and this inhibition was not removed by pre-incubation with IL-3. No significant effect was observed on cluster or colony formation in two patients with CML in accelerated or blastic phase, and on in vitro growth of clonogenic cells from the Ph1-positive K-562 cell line. These findings (i) confirm previous observations showing a lineage specific requirement of c-abl function in normal hematopoiesis, and (ii) suggest that the residual c-abl expression has a role in chronic phase CML hematopoiesis, as its inhibition impairs both myeloid and erythroid colony formation in vitro.