Extracellular vesicles from type-2 macrophages increase the survival of chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells ex vivo

The resistance of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) B-cells to cell death is mainly attributed to interactions within their microenvironment, where they interact with various types of cells. Within this microenvironment, CLL-B-cells produce and bind cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular vesicles (EVs). In the present study, EVs purified from nurse-like cells and M2-polarized THP1 cell (M2-THP1) cultures were added to CLL-B-cells cultures. EVs were rapidly internalized by B-cells, leading to a decrease in apoptosis (P = 0.0162 and 0.0469, respectively) and an increased proliferation (P = 0.0335 and 0.0109). Additionally, they induced an increase in the resistance of CLL-B-cells to Ibrutinib, the Bruton kinase inhibitor in vitro (P = 0.0344). A transcriptomic analysis showed an increase in the expression of anti-apoptotic gene BCL-2 (P = 0.0286) but not MCL-1 and an increase in the expression of proliferation-inducing gene APRIL (P = 0.0286) following treatment with EVs. Meanwhile, an analysis of apoptotic protein markers revealed increased amounts of IGFBP-2 (P = 0.0338), CD40 (P = 0.0338), p53 (P = 0.0219) and BCL-2 (P = 0.0338). Finally, exploration of EVs protein content by mass spectrometry revealed they carry various proteins involved in known oncogenic pathways and the RNAseq analysis of CLL-B-cells treated or not with NLCs EVs show various differentially expressed genes.