Novel P38 MAP Kinase Inhibitor and Anti-P38 RNA Interference as Potential Therapeutic Approaches in Myelodysplastic Syndromes.
Authors: Mohindru Mani , Pahanish Perry , Katsoulidis Efstratios , Collins Robert , Rogers Thomas , Navas Tony , Higgins Linda , Platanias Leonidas , Verma Amit 
Published: April 2020

Cytokines such as TNF α, IFN γ and others have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ineffective hematopoiesis in MDS and are thought to lead to the high rate of apoptosis in hematopoietic progenitors. The p38 Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) is an evolutionary conserved enzyme that is involved in many cellular processes including stress signaling. We have previously shown that the p38 MAP kinase is strongly activated by IFNs, TNF α, TGF β and other inhibitory cytokines in normal primary hematopoietic progenitors and plays an important role in the negative regulation of normal hematopoiesis. In the present study, we determined the role of the p38 MAPK in the pathogenesis of MDS evaluated its inhibition as a potential therapeutic strategy in this disease.

p38 MAPK inhibition was achieved by the use of a novel p38 inhibitor - SD-282, a specific inhibitor of p38α MAP kinase. SD-282 performs very similarly in animal and cell models to a p38 inhibitor now in the clinic. We also transfected primary hematopoietic cells with flurescent labeled siRNAs against p38 and successfully downregulated the levels of the protein. Using these approaches, we demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition of the p38 MAPK can reverse the growth inhibitory effects of TNF α and IFN γ on erythroid and myeloid colony formation. This reversal of TNF α mediated inhibition correlates with significant reduction of apoptosis seen in human hematopoeitic progenitors pretreated with p38 inhibitor SD-282.

Having established the importance of p38 MAPK in cytokine mediated inhibition of normal hematopoiesis, we performed colony forming assays with bone marrow CD34+ cells from 8 patients with MDS in the presence of either pharmacologic or siRNA based inhibitors of p38. All patients had refractory cytopenias with multilineage dysplasia. Our data indicates that SD-282 treatment strongly enhances both erythroid and myeloid colony formation in MDS CD34+ bone marrow cells in vitro. This increase was not observed when these progenitors were grown in the presence of negative controls - SB 202474 and the MEK inhibitor PD 98059. Similarly, an increase in hematopoietic colony formation, though of a lesser magnitude was seen when MDS bone marrow progenitors were transfected with siRNAs against p38 MAPK.

To further determine the role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of MDS, we also used bone marrow derived sera from the same MDS patients. Our studies show exposure to patient derived sera led to the phosphorylation/activation of p38 MAPK in normal hematopoietic progenitors when compared to sera from healthy volunteers. Our studies also demonstrate that bone marrow derived sera from MDS patients can inhibit erythroid and myeloid colony formation of normal hematopoietic progenitors. This inhibition can be reversed by blocking p38 MAPK using SD-282, other p38 inhibitors and siRNAs. This finding confirms the role of marrow cytokine /serum factors in the ineffective hematopoiesis seen in MDS and suggests the importance of p38 MAPK activation in this phenomenon.

Thus our studies show the p38 MAPK may be a common effector of inhibitory cytokine signaling in normal and MDS hematopoietic cells. These results provide a strong rationale for using p38 inhibition as a novel treatment strategy for MDS. Supported by Harris Methodist Foundation Grant, VISN-17 New Investigator Grant and VA Research Corp Grant to AV.