BACKGROUND: Effectiveness of L-asparaginase administration in acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment is mirrored in the overall outcome of patients. Generally, leukemia patients differ in their sensitivity to L-asparaginase; however, the mechanism underlying their inter-individual differences is still not fully understood. We have previously shown that L-asparaginase rewires the biosynthetic and bioenergetic pathways of leukemia cells to activate both anti-leukemic and pro-survival processes. Herein, we investigated the relationship between the metabolic profile of leukemia cells and their sensitivity to currently used cytostatic drugs. METHODS: Altogether, 19 leukemia cell lines, primary leukemia cells from 26 patients and 2 healthy controls were used. Glycolytic function and mitochondrial respiration were measured using Seahorse Bioanalyzer. Sensitivity to cytostatics was measured using MTS assay and/or absolute count and flow cytometry. Mitochondrial membrane potential was determined as TMRE fluorescence. RESULTS: Using cell lines and primary patient samples we characterized the basal metabolic state of cells derived from different leukemia subtypes and assessed their sensitivity to cytostatic drugs. We found that leukemia cells cluster into distinct groups according to their metabolic profile. Lymphoid leukemia cell lines and patients sensitive to L-asparaginase clustered into the low glycolytic cluster. While lymphoid leukemia cells with lower sensitivity to L-asparaginase together with resistant normal mononuclear blood cells gathered into the high glycolytic cluster. Furthermore, we observed a correlation of specific metabolic parameters with the sensitivity to L-asparaginase. Greater ATP-linked respiration and lower basal mitochondrial membrane potential in cells significantly correlated with higher sensitivity to L-asparaginase. No such correlation was found in the other cytostatic drugs tested by us. CONCLUSIONS: These data support that cell metabolism plays a prominent role in the treatment effect of L-asparaginase. Based on these findings, leukemia patients with lower sensitivity to L-asparaginase with no specific genetic characterization could be identified by their metabolic profile.

• MeSH
• akutní lymfatická leukemie krev   farmakoterapie   patologie   MeSH
• antitumorózní látky farmakologie   terapeutické užití   MeSH
• asparaginasa farmakologie   terapeutické užití   MeSH
• biosyntetické dráhy účinky léků   MeSH
• chemorezistence MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• glykolýza účinky léků   MeSH
• kojenec MeSH
• kostní dřeň patologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• membránový potenciál mitochondrií účinky léků   MeSH
• metabolom účinky léků   MeSH
• mitochondrie účinky léků   metabolismus   MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• oxidativní fosforylace účinky léků   MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• výsledek terapie MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• kojenec MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH