Human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the etiological agent of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) that develops after several decades and for which there is no effective treatment. Among the viral proteins of HTLV-1, Tax and HBZ play a major role in the development of ATLL. If Tax participates in the initiation of leukemogenesis from the early stages, HBZ rather plays a role in maintaining the tumor phenotype in the late stages. The aims of our study were to better understand the regulation of Bfl-1 and Bcl-xL anti-apoptotic protein expression by Tax and HBZ viral proteins, as well as their role in the survival of HTLV-1-infected T-cells to propose new therapeutic strategies. We showed that Tax induces Bfl-1 and Bcl-xL expression via the NF-κB pathway, whereas HBZ has no effect on their expression. Tax also cooperates with c-Jun and JunD transcription factors of AP-1 family to increase the expression of these anti-apoptotic genes. By contrast, HBZ modulates the Tax-induced bfl-1 trans-activation. Altogether, our data indicate that Tax plays a key role in activating Bfl-1 and Bcl-xL expression and suggests that Bfl-1 and Bcl-xL are potentially expressed during the early and the late stages of ATLL development. Using short hairpin RNA strategy, we then showed that Bfl-1 and/or Bcl-xL are involved in HTLV-1-infected T-cell line survival, indicating that Bfl-1 and Bcl-xL represent potential therapeutic targets in the case of ATLL. One approach currently being developed in anti-cancer drug discovery is to search for small inhibitory compounds targeting anti-apoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family. But so far, no drug specifically targeting Bfl-1 is available. In collaboration with the IMAXIO Company, we have identified 83 molecules able to inhibit Bfl-1 anti-apoptotic activity using two high-throughput screening. One of these molecules specifically induced the death of HTLV-1-infected T-cell for which Bfl-1 represents a survival gene. This work provides new insight for long-term development of future drugs directed against Bfl-1 and should allow us to propose new therapeutic strategy for ATLL treatment
