Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

DNA: leukemia's secret weapon of bone mass destruction

  • Commentary
  • Published:
Oncogene Submit manuscript

Abstract

Interaction of tumour cells with their microenvironment impacts on all aspects of cancer, ranging from development through to treatment response. In this issue, Dvorak and colleagues1 reveal a novel tumour/microevironment relationship that may drive leukemia pathogenesis. Specifically, they find that leukemic cells secrete chromatin-complexed DNA that, in turn, triggers a variety of harmful effects, including cell death, in neighbouring stromal cells. Through this toxicity, DNA-mediated bone marrow destruction could promote disease progression by allowing leukemic cells to exit the bone marrow into the circulation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1

References

  1. Dvorakova M, Karafiat V, Pajer P, Kluzakova E, Jarkovska K, Pekova S et al. DNA released by leukemic cells contributes to the disruption of the bone marrow microenvironment. Oncogene (e-pub ahead of print 10 December 2012, doi: 10.1038/onc.2012.553).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Pattabiraman DR, Gonda TJ . Role and potential for therapeutic targeting of MYB in Leukemia. Leukemia (e-pub ahead of print 28 August 2012; doi: 10.1038/leu.2012.225).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Karafiat V, Dvorakova M, Pajer P, Kralova J, Horejsi Z, Cermak V et al. The leucine zipper region of Myb oncoprotein regulates the commitment of hematopoietic progenitors. Blood 2001; 98: 3668–3676.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Dvorakova M, Kralova J, Karafiat V, Bartunek P, Dvorak M . An ex vivo model to study v-Myb-induced leukemogenicity. Blood Cells Mol Dis 2001; 27: 437–445.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Gahan PB, Stroun M . The virtosome-a novel cytosolic informative entity and intercellular messenger. Cell Biochem Funct 2010; 28: 529–538.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Nickel W . Pathways of unconventional protein secretion. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2010; 21: 621–626.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Glasgow, UK

    S Tait

Authors
  1. S Tait
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S Tait.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tait, S. DNA: leukemia's secret weapon of bone mass destruction. Oncogene 32, 5199–5200 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2012.639

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2012.639

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation