ABSTRACT: Three HL cell lines (HD-MyZ, L-540 and HDLM-2) were used to investigate the effects of perifosine and sorafenib using in vitro assays analyzing cell growth, cell cycle distribution, gene expression profiling (GEP), and apoptosis. Western blotting (WB) experiments were performed to determine whether the two-drug combination affected MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways as well as apoptosis. Additionally, the antitumor efficacy and mechanism of action of perifosine/sorafenib combination were investigated in vivo in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient (NOD/SCID) mice using tumor growth rates and survival as endpoints. RESULTS: While perifosine and sorafenib as single agents exerted a limited activity against HL cells, exposure of HD-MyZ and L-540 cell lines, but not HDLM-2 cells, to perifosine/sorafenib combination resulted in synergistic cell growth inhibition (40% to 80%) and cell cycle arrest. Upon perifosine/sorafenib exposure, L-540 cell line showed significant levels of apoptosis (up to 70%, P ≤.0001) associated with severe mitochondrial dysfunction (cytochrome c, apoptosis-inducing factor release and marked conformational change of Bax accompanied by membrane translocation). Apoptosis induced by perifosine/sorafenib combination did not result in processing of caspase-8, -9, -3, or cleavage of PARP, and was not reversed by the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VADfmk, supporting a caspase-independent mechanism of cell death. In responsive cell lines, WB analysis showed that antiproliferative and pro-apototic events were associated with dephosphorylation of MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways. GEP analysis of HD-MyZ and L-540 cell lines, but not HDLM-2 cells indicated that perifosine/sorafenib treatment induced upregulation of genes involved in amino acid metabolism and downregulation of genes regulating cell cycle, DNA replication and cell death. In addition, in responsive cell lines, perifosine/sorafenib combination strikingly induced the expression of tribbles homologues 3 (TRIB3) both in vitro and in vivo. Silencing of TRIB3 prevented cell growth reduction induced by perifosine/sorafenib treatment. In vivo, the combined perifosine/sorafenib treatment significantly increased the median survival of NOD/SCID mice xenografted with HD-MyZ cell line as compared to controls (81 vs 45 days, P ≤.0001) as well as mice receiving perifosine alone (49 days, P ≤.03) or sorafenib alone (54 days, P ≤.007). In mice bearing subcutaneous nodules generated by HD-MyZ and L-540 cell lines but not HDLM-2 cell line, perifosine/sorafenib treatment induced significantly increased levels of apoptosis (2- to 2.5-fold, P ≤.0001) and necrosis (2- to 8-fold, P ≤.0001), as compared to controls or treatment with single agents. In addition, perifosine/sorafenib treatment had no effect on HDLM-2 nodules, but significantly reduced L-540 nodules with 50% tumor growth inhibition, compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: Perifosine/sorafenib combination resulted in strong anti-HL activity both in vitro and in vivo. These results warrant clinical evaluation of perifosine/sorafenib combined-treatment in HL patients. The Hodgkin lymphoma cell line HD-MyZ was obtained from the DSMZ (Braunschweig, Germany, EU). Cells were routinely maintained in RPMI medium 1640 (Lonza, Basel, Switzerland) supplemented with 10% FBS (Lonza) and 2 mM glutamine (Lonza). Cells were maintained at 37°C in a water-saturated atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. 10x10^6 HD-MyZ cells were seeded in 150 cm2 flask and, after 24 hrs, cells were treated with 10 µM perifosine (Aeterna Zentaris, Frankfurt, Germany, EU) and/or 5 µM sorafenib (Bayer, Berlin,
Germany, EU) in culture medium for 24 hours. At the end of treatment, cells were collected and RNA extracted.
