Resveratrol as a BCL6 natural inhibitor suppresses germinal center derived Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells growth

Abstract

Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), Burkitt lymphoma (BL), and follicular lymphoma (FL), predominantly arise from B cells undergoing germinal center (GC) reactions. The transcriptional repressor B-cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) is indispensable for GC formation and contributes to lymphomagenesis via its BTB domain-mediated suppression of target genes. Dysregulation of BCL6 underpins the pathogenesis of GC-derived NHL. While pharmacological targeting the BCL6-BTB domain has shown therapeutic promise, natural product-based inhibitors remain underexplored. In this study, resveratrol, a polyphenolic compound derived from grapes, was identified as a potent BCL6 inhibitor through a comprehensive screen of traditional Chinese medicine monomers using Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluorescence (HTRF) assay. As a BCL6 natural inhibitor, resveratrol effectively disrupted the BCL6/SMRT interaction, reactivated suppressed gene expression, and inhibited the proliferation of GC-derived NHL cells. It also exhibited synergistic efficacy when combined with EZH2 and PRMT5 inhibitors. In vivo, resveratrol suppressed GC formation, reduced follicular helper T-cell frequencies, impaired class-switch recombination, and disrupted immunoglobulin affinity maturation. Furthermore, it markedly inhibited the progression of GC-derived NHL in animal models. Our findings demonstrate that resveratrol functions as a natural BCL6 inhibitor with significant therapeutic potential for the treatment of GC-derived NHL.

Graphical abstract