Pro-inflammatory cells sustain leukemic clonal expansion in T-cell large granular lymphocyte leukemia

Haematologica. 2024 Jan 1;109(1):163-174. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2022.282306.

Abstract

T-cell large granular lymphocyte leukemia (T-LGLL) is a chronic lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by the clonal expansion of T-cell large granular lymphocytes (T-LGL). Immunophenotypic and genotypic features contribute to discriminate symptomatic (CD8+ STAT3-mutated T-LGLL) from clinically indolent patients, this latter group including CD8+ wildtype (wt), CD4+ STAT5B-mutated and wt cases. T-LGL lymphoproliferation is sustained both by somatic gain-offunction mutations (i.e., STAT3 and STAT5B) and by pro-inflammatory cytokines, but little information is available on the activity of T-LGLL non-leukemic cells. In this study, we characterized pro-inflammatory cells in the peripheral blood of T-LGLL patients and analyzed their role in supporting the leukemic growth. In symptomatic patients we found that cell populations not belonging to the leukemic component showed a discrete pro-inflammatory pattern. In particular, CD8+ STAT3-mutated cases showed a skewed Th17/Treg ratio and an abnormal distribution of monocyte populations characterized by increased intermediate and non-classical monocytes. We also demonstrated that monocytes released high levels of interleukin-6 after CCL5 stimulation, a chemokine specifically expressed only by leukemic LGL. Conversely, in asymptomatic cases an altered distribution of monocyte populations was not detected. Moreover, T-LGLL patients' monocytes showed abnormal activation of signaling pathways, further supporting the different pathogenic role of monocytes in patients in discrete clinical settings. Altogether, our data contribute to deepening the knowledge on the different cell subtypes in T-LGLL, focusing particularly on non-leukemic cell populations and thus offering the rationale for new therapeutic strategies.

MeSH terms

  • Cytokines
  • Humans
  • Killer Cells, Natural / metabolism
  • Leukemia, Large Granular Lymphocytic* / genetics
  • Leukemia, Large Granular Lymphocytic* / pathology

Substances

  • Cytokines

Grants and funding

Funding: This work was supported by a fellowship related to a project for rare diseases (DIMAR, from the Department of Medicine, Università degli Studi di Padova) and by a grant from the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca contro il Cancro (AIRC, Milan) (IG #20216 to GS). VRG was supported by a fellowship from AIRC (IT #26815).