Bone marrow stromal mesenchymal cells induce down regulation of CD20 expression on B-CLL: implications for rituximab...

Although the majority of B cells express surface CD20 in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL), only ∼50% of patients respond to treatment with rituximab. Decreased CD20 expression on these tumour B cells could be responsible for the lack of response observed in some patients treated with rituximab. Despite the potential critical role of CD20 in the biology of B cell malignancies, the mechanisms controlling its expression are poorly understood. At the bone marrow level, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) may regulate and support the survival of malignant cells, such as B-CLL cells. In this study, we investigated whether MSC may regulate the CD20 expression on B-CLL. For this purpose, B cells from CLL patients were isolated and co-cultured on MSC. B-CLL cells were collected from B-CLL/MSC co-cultures and examined for their expression of CD20. We demonstrate decreased CD20 expression in B-CLL cells after 2 weeks of co-culture with MSC, under contact and non-contact conditions, which was associated with a decreased susceptibility to rituximab. Additionally, B cells co-cultured with MSCs show an increase in CD59 expression. Our findings strongly suggest that the interaction between B-CLL cells and MSC may play a major role in the resistance to rituximab-induced apoptosis of B-CLL cells.