Ikaros expression sensitizes leukemic cells to the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin

Ikaros is an important transcription factor involved in the development and differentiation of hematopoietic cells. However, its role in the treatment of hematopoietic malignancies such as leukemia is less well understood. In the present study, it was observed by data mining of the Oncomine database that high expression levels of full-length Ikaros (IK1) is correlated with increased sensitivity of cancer cells to treatments with chemotherapeutic drugs, including doxorubicin (DOX). To examine the functional significance of this observation, the expression of IK1 in a leukemia cell line was altered, and the response of leukemic cells to DOX treatment was analyzed. It was observed that overexpression of IK1 could enhance DOX-induced apoptosis, while knockdown of IK1 attenuated DOX-induced apoptosis in leukemic cells. Further experiments demonstrated that IK1 sensitized leukemic cells to DOX-induced apoptosis, probably through upregulation of caspase-9. These data suggest that high expression levels of IK1 may be a potential biomarker to predict responses of leukemia patients to treatment with chemotherapy.