A Profile of 648 Signaling Network Events Identifies Cell Subsets with Diverse, Abnormal Responses to Lymphocyte Stimuli within Follicular Lymphoma Tumors.

Signal transduction plays a key role in cell survival, and changes to signaling are frequently implicated in tumor initiation and progression. We sought to identify abnormal variation in signaling network activity within primary tumor samples obtained prior to treatment from patients with follicular lymphoma (FL). We previously showed that altered B cell receptor (BCR) signaling distinguishes tumor B cells from the non-malignant host B cells in FL tumors. Here we extend this approach and use flow cytometry to measure 648 signaling events in live lymphoid cells from more than 25 lymphoma specimens and healthy controls. We combined 9 previously identified BCR stimulation conditions with inputs from CD40, interleukin 4, interferons (IFNs), and more than 10 other environmental cues that govern the development and activity of lymphocytes. Fluorescent cell barcoding allowed simultaneous staining and analysis of phospho-protein activation under all 27 stimulation conditions within a single tube. The activation of key phospho-protein nodes throughout lymphocyte signaling networks, including Syk, Erk1/2, Btk, Src family kinases, cCbl, p38, NFkB, Akt, Stat1, Stat3, Stat6, and Stat5, was measured under each of the 27 stimulation conditions. Measurements of phospho-protein responses to stimulation were combined with detection of the Bcl-2 oncogene, B and T cell lineage markers in each cell. This panel allowed us to characterize signaling in the heterogeneous cell subsets found within each patient’s tumor sample. Tumor B cells, host tumor infiltrating T cells, non-malignant B cells were all distinguished by contrasting signaling profiles. In some cases, subsets of tumor B cells with differences in signaling network topology were observed within the tumor B cell population. This result suggests that signaling can distinguish between tumor sub-clones and could be used to measure tumor heterogeneity. As previously reported, little variation in signaling was observed among healthy peripheral blood B and T cell samples from different individuals. Abnormally low host T cell signaling was commonly observed within the tumor infiltrating T cells infiltrating FL tumors. Further analysis of tumor T cell subsets indicated that a high proportion of infiltrating T cells expressed CD4 and FoxP3. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that FL tumor B cells promote suppressed signaling in the T cells of the patient and may modulate the immune response against the tumor. In FL tumor B cells, BCR and IFN signaling frequently triggered Stat5 phosphorylation, but not Stat1 phosphorylation. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that Stat5 initiates genetic programs that support cancer cell survival and proliferation, whereas Stat1 promotes immunogenicity and cooperates with the p53 tumor suppressor protein. In contrast with healthy B cells, loss of the response to CD40L, altered PKC signaling, and variable responses to BCR crosslinking were all seen in FL tumor B cells. The patterns of abnormal signaling we observed in tumor B cells and tumor infiltrating T cells suggest that measuring the activity of key signaling network nodes can identify targets for therapeutic attention in FL.