Mechanisms of chemo-resistance in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Publication success!

We are delighted to see that the latest study on the mechanisms of chemo-resistance in T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic #Leukemia (T-ALL) by Jingliao Zhang and colleagues is now published in the prestigious journal, Blood!

T-ALL is an aggressive cancer not least because of the propagation of resistant cancer clones that drive disease recurrence. Jingliao Zhang et al. (Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College) wanted to dissect the nature of these clones to work out how their presences might contribute to resistance to #chemotherapy .

Combining single cell RNA sequencing with T-cell receptor sequencing of paired diagnosis-relapse T-ALL samples, the researchers identified two leukemic evolutionary patterns: “clonal shift” and “clonal drift”. They additionally saw high expression of the RNA-binding protein MSI2 in the clones persisting at the point of disease relapse. Digging deeper, the researchers conducted functional studies showing that MSI2 contributed to T-ALL proliferation and promoted #chemoresistance through the posttranscriptional regulation of the #oncogene, MYC.

These findings have important implications, as they identify MSI2 as an informative biomarker and novel therapeutic target in T-ALL.

Congratulations to all those involved in this intricate study! For those of you who would like to learn more, the paper can be found online here: https://lnkd.in/dcRJVgr9