Apoptosis in T Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells after Cell Cycle Arrest Induced by Pharmacological Inhibition of Notch Signaling

In this report, inhibitors of the γ-secretase enzyme have been exploited to characterize the antiproliferative relationship between target inhibition and cellular responses in Notch-dependent human T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cell lines. Inhibition of γ-secretase led to decreased Notch signaling, measured by endogenous NOTCH intracellular domain (NICD) formation, and was associated with decreased cell viability. Flow cytometry revealed that decreased cell viability resulted from a G₀/G₁ cell cycle block, which correlated strongly to the induction of apoptosis. These effects associated with inhibitor treatment were rescued by exogenous expression of NICD and were not mirrored when a markedly less active enantiomer was used, demonstrating the γ-secretase dependency and specificity of these responses. Together, these data strengthen the rationale for using γ-secretase inhibitors therapeutically and suggest that programmed cell death may contribute to reduction of tumor burden in the clinic.