NOX-A12 chemosensitizes CLL cells toward cytotoxic agents in cocultures with BMSCs. (A) CXCL12 was stripped of BMSCs before CLL cells were cocultured with BMSCs in medium alone (control) or in medium containing NOX-A12, the combination of bendamustine and fludarabine (B+F), or NOX-A12 combined with B+F. CLL cell viability was determined after 24 hours by staining with DiOC6 and propidium iodide flow cytometry. Dark lines represent the median of CLL viability for 10 different patients. Statistic differences were determined by the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test. (B) The box diagram represents the mean relative viabilities of CLL cells cocultured with BMSCs and treated with NOX-A12 with or without bendamustine and fludarabine. Viabilities of NOX-A12–treated samples were normalized to the viabilities of control samples without NOX-A12 (100%). The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test was used to demonstrate the NOX-A12–induced sensitization effect for the chemotherapeutic drugs.
