10058-F4, a c-Myc inhibitor, markedly increases valproic acid-induced cell death in Jurkat and CCRF-CEM T-lymphoblastic leukemia cells.

Adult T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) has a poor prognosis. Although it has been found that activation of Notch1 signaling occurs in >50% T-ALL patients, γ-secretase inhibitors that target Notch1 signaling are of limited efficacy. However, c-Myc is an important direct target of Notch1 and, thus, c-Myc is another potential therapeutic target for T-ALL. Valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, has been reported to treat various hematological malignancies. In the present study, we showed that c-Myc expression, at a transcriptional level, was dose-dependently downregulated in VPA-induced growth inhibition in T-ALL cell lines, Jurkat and CCRF-CEM cells. 10058-F4, a small molecule c-Myc inhibitor, could increase the downregulation of c-Myc and markedly increase the growth inhibition and cell death induced by VPA in Jurkat and CCRF-CEM cells, which was accompanied by obvious cleavage of capase-3. Z-VAD-FMK, a caspase inhibitor, partially prevented the anti-leukemic effect. The results of the present study suggest that c-Myc inhibitors increase cell death induced by VPA in a caspase-dependent and -independent manner, and their combination could be a potent therapeutic strategy for adult T-ALL patients.