Ferroptosis Study in SF3B1-mutant Myelodysplastic Syndromes (FerMDS)

Overview

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are clonal diseases of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) characterized by dysplastic and inefficient hematopoiesis related to excessive progenitor cell death. Ferroptosis is a recently described cell death mechanism and we think that it could be a major player in the pathophysiology of MDS, involved in the cell death that characterizes these diseases and contributing to cytopenias. The study aims to demonstrate that there is a significant activation of this phenomenon in MDS patients compared to a population of subjects without MDS.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are hematological malignancies characterized by a defect in blood cells production. Their pathophysiology remains poorly understood, but an excessive death of progenitor cells is considered as a key mechanism contributing to the appearance of cytopenia. Furthermore, it is known that there are abnormalities of iron metabolism in MDS, especially in patients with ring sideroblasts and SF3B1 mutation. The classical therapeutic strategy in MDS relies on symptomatic management of cytopenias (transfusions, growth factors) associated with demethylating agents in high-risk forms. Unfortunately, these treatments only stabilize the disease and only allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (reserved to limited number of patients) can cure the patients. Therefore, there is a urgent need to identify new therapeutic targets in these diseases. An excessive apoptosis activation has been shown in MDS for a long time. However, other cell death pathways could also contribute to their pathophysiology. Among them, ferroptosis, a cell death process triggered by the accumulation of free iron in the cell, seems to be a promising candidate. The project is proposed to study ferroptosis in SF3B1-mutant MDS patients. An additionnal bone marrow sample will be aspirate at diagnosis. Ferroptosis will be analyzed using flow cytometry (labeling of peroxidized lipids with C11-BODIPY). The percentage of cells in ferroptosis will be compared between SF3B1-mutant MDS patients and control patients (patients evaluated for Monoclonal Gammapathy of Unknown Significance-MGUS). The presence of an excess of ferroptosis in SF3B1-mutant MDS patients will be correlated to clinico-biological parameters. No follow up will be be performed.