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Abstract Overcoming drug resistance is one of key issues in treating refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway is involved in many aspects of biological functions of AML cells, including the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine products, myeloid differentiation, and survival of AML cells. Thus, targeting TLR4 of AML patients for therapeutic purposes should be carefully addressed. In this regard, we investigated the possible role of TLR4 as a regulatory factor against fludarabine (FA) cytotoxicity activity. Here, we identified the differential expression of TLR4 and CD14 receptors in AML cell lines and examined their relationship to FA sensitivity. We found that the stimulation of TLR4 with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in a TLR4-expressing cell line, THP-1, increased cell viability under FA treatment condition and showed that TLR4 stimulation overcame FA sensitivity through the activation of NF-κB, which subsequently upregulated several anti-apoptotic genes. The inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB signaling could partially or completely reverse LPS-induced cell survival under FA treatment conditions. Interestingly, we found that the expression of thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), a well-known tumor suppressor, was induced by FA treatment; however, it was suppressed by LPS treatment. Furthermore, the expression level of TXNIP was critical for FA-induced cytotoxicity or LPS-induced FA resistance of THP-1 cells. Our data suggest that TXNIP plays an important role in FA-induced cytotoxicity and TLR4/NF-κB-mediated FA resistance of AML cells. Therefore, TXNIP may be a potential therapeutic target for AML treatment. Highlights • THP-1 cells highly express the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). • THP-1 cells overcome fludarabine (FA)-induced cytotoxicity by LPS treatment. • TLR4/NF-κB signaling regulates LPS-induced cell survival under FA treatment. • TXNIP is crucial for FA-induced cytotoxicity and TLR4/NF-κB-mediated FA resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The differentiation of natural killer (NK) cells is regulated by various factors including soluble growth factors and transcription factors. Here, we have demonstrated that tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is a positive regulator of NK cell differentiation. TNF-α augmented the IL-15-induced expression of NK1.1 and CD122 in mature NK cells, and TNF-α alone also induced NK cell maturation as well as IL-15. TNF-α also increased IFN-γ production in NK cells in the presence of IL-15. Meanwhile, mRNA expression of several transcription factors, including T-bet and GATA-3, was increased by the addition of TNF-α and IL-15. In addition, TNF-α increased nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activity in NK cells and inhibition of NF-κB impeded TNF-α-enhanced NK cell maturation. Overall, these data suggest that TNF-α significantly increased IL-15-driven NK cell differentiation by increasing the expression of transcription factors that play crucial roles in NK cell maturation and inducing the NF-κB activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]