Distinct EphB4-mediated mechanisms of apoptotic and resistance to dasatinib in human chronic myeloid leukemia and K562 cell lines

To determine the role and mechanism of EphB4 in dasatinib (DAS) resistance in advanced chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), we explored the EphB4-mediated apoptotic and matrix microenvironment pathway in human CML and K562 cell lines. Heparinized bone marrow samples were obtained from enrolled five patients (identified as A to E and visits identified by number) at initial diagnosis (A1–E1) and in the DAS-resistance advanced phase (A2–E2). Meanwhile, highly DAS-resistant cells, named K562-R cells, were obtained from K562-W cells with increasing concentrations of DAS. Stable under-expressing EphB4 cells (K562-R-EphB4-sh) were obtained from K562-R cells by RNA interference. K562-W, K562-R and K562-R-EphB4-sh cells (108) were respectively injected subcutaneously on the dorsal surface of BALB/C female nude mice to establish the xenografts models. The mRNA/protein of EphB4 was overexpressed in the DAS-resistant A2–E2 in comparison with the A1–E1 human cell lines. Further, compared with K562-R cells, the expressions of EphB4 and p-Rac1/Cdc42 protein/mRNA were significantly downregulated in K562-R-EphB4-sh cells (P < 0.01). K562–R cells showed the highest DAS resistance (IC50 10.54 ± 0.67 μg/ml), but K562-R-EphB4-sh cells became sensitive to DAS (IC50 1.02 ± 0.1 μg/ml, P < 0.01). The expression of EphB4/p-RhoA/MCL-1 protein was gradually increased in the stimulating of EphrinB2-Fc, which partly made K562-R-EphB4-sh cells restore sensitivity to DAS (4.18 ± 0.30 μg/ml). Meanwhile, the K562-R-EphB4-sh xenografts group had relatively good efficacy compared to K562-R xenografts nude mice receiving the same dose of DAS. The analysis of xenografts tissue also suggested parallel results with the overexpression of EphB4/RhoA/ROCK1/PTEN/MCL-1 in K562-R xenografts, which decreased in the A2-R-EphB4-sh xenografts (P < 0.01). The present study found that a new DAS resistance pathway of EphB4 overexpression was triggered by EphrinB2-Fc, which induced the resistance to DAS by activating RhoA/ROCK1/PTEN/MCL-1 signaling.