Circulating Extracellular Vesicles from Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients Drive Distinct Metabolic Profile of Leukemic Cells and Reveal Crucial Lipidomic Biomarkers
Authors: Forte Dorian , Pellegrino Roberto Maria , Fabbri Francesco , Vannini Ivan , Bruno Samantha , Corradi Giulia , Argüello Rafael J. , Cristiano Gianluca , Buratta Sandra , Urbanelli Lorena , Emiliani Carla , Cavo Michele , Curti Antonio 
Published: November 2021

Background. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are submicron vesicles released from various cell types including blood cells with pleiotropic effects on cell signalling and metabolism. EV cargos are enriched in nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids that can be delivered to target cells to influence surrounding microenvironment. Thus, EVs represent a powerful tool for liquid biopsy in hematological malignancies including acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

AML is an aggressive disease with high relapse rate and less invasive tools are urgently needed to investigate disease (metabolic) dynamics. Accumulating evidence has reported a key role for EVs in shaping the AML bone marrow niche. However, at present, the metabolic function and the lipidomic signature driven by circulating EVs have yet to fully emerge.

Methods. Peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) were collected from AML patients at diagnosis (n=40) and PB from age/sex-matched healthy donors (HD, n=20). EVs were purified from platelet-poor plasma by size exclusion chromatography and quantified using the NanoSight technology. Immunomagnetically isolated CD34+ cells from umbilical cord blood (CB) or AML patients were characterized by analyzing the hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC)-specific cluster of differentiation marker expression, redox metabolic profiling (using CellROX, glutathione detection reagent and MitoTracker) after 24 hours co-culture with EVs. Quantitative lipidomic profiling of circulating EVs was performed by Liquid Chromatography coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC/HRMS). Seahorse extracellular flux analyses were performed in leukemia cell lines (including KG-1, KASUMI-1, MOLM-13, THP-1 and OCI-AML3). To functionally define the metabolic reprogramming of leukemic cellular components within their microenvironment, leukemic stem cell subsets were assessed by flow cytometry-based SCENITH (Single Cell ENergetic metabolism by profilIng Translation inHibition) method in both whole blood and BM samples (n=4).

Results. In our work, plasma-derived EVs from AML patients showed a significant increase in the size and protein amounts compared to HD counterparts. To explore the metabolic perturbation triggered by EVs, we developed a co-culture system with circulating EVs from either HD or AML patients with CB or AML CD34+. We found a reduction in the frequency of AML CD34+ with high ROS levels in the presence of AML EVs without affecting the ROS levels in normal CB CD34+. In parallel, AML EVs increased the frequency of AML CD34+ with both high mitochondrial activity and glutathione, a key antioxidant molecule involved in many metabolic pathways. Similar metabolic profiles were also confirmed in human leukemic cell lines tested. Specifically, Seahorse flux analysis revealed that EVs induced a cell energy phenotype consistent with quiescent and chemoresistant state in human leukemic cell lines, showing a more glycolytic state in MOLM-13. Interestingly, both CD34+ and CD34+/CD38- leukemic fractions from whole blood and BM of the same AML patients were analyzed by SCENITH after co-cultures with HD/AML EVs. Remarkably, PB CD34+/CD38- leukemic fractions were more dependent on mitochondrial activity in the presence of AML EVs, suggesting a metabolic shift triggered by leukemic EV that apparently occur in the leukemic fractions out of the BM niche.

In addition, to give insights into lipidomic signatures of EVs as disease biomarkers, we detected a total of 25 (out of 200) independent lipid species significantly different between AML-derived EVs and HD (n=20, respectively). We reported the abundance of both glycerolipid and fatty acids species in AML EVs. Also, through a multivariate statistical analysis of EV lipidomic profile, we revealed that AML EVs were depleted in sphingomyelin classes, a class of lipids that are interconnected to HSC metabolism. Finally, according to the 2017 ELN risk stratification system, we observed the depletion in important modulators of EV release and formation as ether-linked phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylethanolamine species in adverse-risk AML patients.

Conclusion. Overall, our study provides the basis for further investigations on the metabolic alterations trigger by EVs within the BM microenvironment and suggests prognostic biomarkers for leukemic patients that might reveal novel metabolic vulnerabilities in AML scenario.

Disclosures

Cavo: Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; AbbVie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATIONS, EXPENSES, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Travel Accommodations, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy, Honoraria; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squib: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Curti: Jazz Pharma: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Pfizer: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Abbvie: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.