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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Ex vivo Expansion of Tumor-reactive T Cells by Means of Bryostatin 1/Ionomycin and the Common Gamma Chain Cytokines Formulation
Published on: January 14, 2011
Bortezomib pre-treatment prolongs interferon-alpha-induced STAT1 phosphorylation in melanoma cells
Gregory B Lesinski1, Kristen Benninger, Melanie Kreiner
1Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, Richard J. Solove Research Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. gregory.lesinski@osumc.edu
Abstract:
Bortezomib is a proteasome inhibitor that can synergize with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) to induce apoptosis in melanoma cells in vitro and inhibit tumor growth in vivo. We hypothesized that proteasome inhibition may be an effective means to sensitize melanoma cells to the direct effects of IFN-alpha. Pre-treatment of human melanoma cells with bortezomib led to significantly increased transcription of interferon-stimulated genes as determined by real-time PCR. Flow cytometric and immunoblot analyses indicated that the enhanced direct actions of IFN-alpha on melanoma cells were the result of prolonged phosphorylation of STAT1 (P-STAT1) on both the Tyrosine(701) and Serine(727) residues. In contrast, the enhanced IFN-alpha-induced P-STAT1 was not observed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells that were pre-treated with bortezomib. These data suggest that proteasome inhibition represents a mechanism to enhance the direct effects of IFN-alpha on melanoma cells thereby complementing its immunostimulatory properties.
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