ArticleBlood cancer journal2019
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase is a novel target for diffuse large B cell lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma.
Article in Blood cancer journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Proteolysis Targeting Chimeric-Based Technology in Myeloma and Lymphoma.Molecular cancer therapeutics · 2026Review
- MELK inhibits cuproptosis in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cells via the PI3K/mTOR/S6K-DLAT signaling axis.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2026Article
- Maternal Embryonic Leucine Zipper Kinase (Biology · 2026Review
- MELK as a Mediator of Stemness and Metastasis in Aggressive Subtypes of Breast Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Screening kinase inhibitors identifies MELK as a prime target against influenza virus infections through inhibition of viral mRNA splicing.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Discovery of first-in-class PROTACs targeting maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) for the treatment of Burkitt lymphoma.RSC medicinal chemistry · 2024Article
- DDX56 promotes EMT and cancer stemness via MELK-FOXM1 axis in hepatocellular carcinoma.iScience · 2024Article
- CanPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Antileukemic properties of the kinase inhibitor OTSSP167 in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Blood advances · 2023Article
- Preclinical assessment of synergistic efficacy of MELK and CDK inhibitors in adrenocortical cancer.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2022Article
- Computational exploration of maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) as a cancer drug target.Saudi journal of biological sciences · 2022Article
- A synthetic lethal screen identifies HDAC4 as a potential target in MELK overexpressing cancers.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Article
- Integrative analysis of hub genes and key pathway in two subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma by bioinformatics and basic experiments.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2021Article
- OTS167 blocks FLT3 translation and synergizes with FLT3 inhibitors in FLT3 mutant acute myeloid leukemia.Blood cancer journal · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) are among the most aggressive B cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) plays a role in cancer cell cycle progression and is associated with poor prognosis in several cancer cell types. In this study, the role of MELK in DLBCL and MCL and the therapeutic potential of MELK targeting is evaluated. MELK is highly expressed in DLBCL and MCL patient samples, correlating with a worse clinical outcome in DLBCL. Targeting MELK, using the small molecule OTSSP167, impaired cell growth and survival and induced caspase-mediated apoptosis in the lymphoma cells. Western blot analysis revealed that MELK targeting decreased the phosphorylation of FOXM1 and the protein levels of EZH2 and several mitotic regulators, such as Cdc25B, cyclin B1, Plk-1, and Aurora kinases. In addition, OTSSP167 also sensitized the lymphoma cells to the clinically relevant Bcl-2 inhibitor venetoclax by strongly reducing Mcl1 levels. Finally, OTSSP167 treatment of A20-inoculated mice resulted in a significant prolonged survival. In conclusion, targeting MELK with OTSSP167 induced strong anti-lymphoma activity both in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that MELK could be a potential new target in these aggressive B cell malignancies.
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