Biomedical subjects

J C Reed

Publications and source records attributed to J C Reed.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Differential effects of Bcl-2 on T and B cells in transgenic mice.

We have produced bcl-2 transgenic mice by using a construct which mimics the t(14;18) translocation in human follicular lymphomas. Although lymphoid tissues from all transgenic mice contained high levels of human Bcl-2 protein, transgene expression was differentially regulated within the B- and T-cell compartments of lines derived from various founder mice. We have characterized the phenotypes of two lines of bcl-2 transgenic mice (line 2 and line 6) in which bcl-2 transgene expression was restricted primarily to the T- or B-cell lineages, respectively. Analysis of line 6 lymphocytes revealed a polyclonal expansion of B cells, and these B cells exhibited prolonged survival in vitro. In line 2 mice, numbers of T cells in the peripheral lymphoid tissues were more moderately elevated despite enhanced T-cell survival in vitro. Line 2 transgenic mice also showed significantly increased proportions of thymocytes with a mature phenotype. Taken together, these findings suggest different roles for bcl-2 in the in vivo regulation of B- and T-cell development and homeostasis.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Anergic Th1 cells express altered levels of the protein tyrosine kinases p56lck and p59fyn.

Tolerance in T lymphocytes can result from clonal anergy, or paralysis, of Ag-specific T cells. To investigate the molecular mechanisms responsible for anergy, a system in which tolerance can be induced in vitro was employed. Anergy, as defined by long-lived nonresponsiveness to normal antigenic stimulation for IL-2 production, was produced in cloned murine CD4+ Th1 cells. Here we report that such anergic Th1 cells express constitutively reduced amounts of the protein tyrosine kinase p56lck and constitutively elevated levels of the protein tyrosine kinase p59fyn. Because protein tyrosine phosphorylation is known to be important for the normal induction of IL-2 synthesis, these results suggest that T cell anergy may be maintained, at least in part, by alterations in tyrosine phosphorylation signaling events.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

bcl-2 gene transfer increases relative resistance of S49.1 and WEHI7.2 lymphoid cells to cell death and DNA fragmentation induced by glucocorticoids and multiple chemotherapeutic drugs.

The S49.1 and WEHI7.2 murine lymphoid cell lines have been used extensively as models for investigations of programmed cell death ("apoptosis") induced by glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone. Infection of these thymus-derived T-cell lines with a recombinant retrovirus encoding the human M(r) 26,000 Bcl-2 oncoprotein resulted in marked resistance to DEX-mediated cell death and DNA degradation into oligonucleosomal fragments, without interfering with the ability of dexamethasone to suppress cellular proliferation and without lowering levels of glucocorticoid receptors. In contrast, high levels of p26-Bcl-2 production did not block cell killing and DNA fragmentation induced by H2O2, suggesting that the Bcl-2 impairs some but not all pathways for cell death in S49.1 and WEHI7.2 cells that are associated with the DNA fragmentation pattern typical of apoptosis. S49.1 and WEHI7.2 cells infected with bcl-2 but not control retrovirus also exhibited increased resistance to cell killing and DNA fragmentation induced by a wide variety of reagents, including the calcium ionophore ionomycin, the phorbol ester tetradecanoylphorbol acetate, the dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor methotrexate, the antimetabolite 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, and the microtubule inhibitor vincristine. These findings provide evidence that p26-Bcl-2 interferes with a pathway for cell death that is activated by multiple drugs used for the treatment of cancer.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Molecular cloning and DNA sequence analysis of cDNA encoding chicken homologue of the Bcl-2 oncoprotein.

We have isolated a 2228 bp cDNA clone encoding a chicken homologue of the human Bcl-2 oncoprotein by low-stringency hybridization screening of a lambda gt10 cDNA library derived from a chicken B-cell lymphoma. DNA sequence analysis of this cDNA revealed an open reading frame predicting a polypeptide of 232 amino acids and an M(r) of 25,839. The predicted protein is highly homologous to the human (73%) and mouse (70%) Bcl-2 proteins, and contains a hydrophobic stretch of amino acids within its carboxyl-end (213-229) consistent with an integral membrane protein. Areas of very high sequence homology shared by all three Bcl-2 proteins at the NH2-terminus (amino acids 1-33) and within the last 150 amino acids of these proteins suggest the presence of at least two evolutionarily conserved domains within the family of Bcl-2 proteins that may be important either for their targeting to mitochondria or their ability to block programmed cell death.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

A strategy for generating monoclonal antibodies against recombinant baculovirus-produced proteins: application to the Bcl-2 oncoprotein.

A strategy is described for production of monoclonal antibodies against recombinant proteins that are produced using the baculovirus expression system and that requires no prior purification of the protein of interest. Crude lysates prepared from cultured Sf9 insect cells infected with recombinant or control baculoviruses are absorbed to nitrocellulose filters and used in a dot-immunobinding assay for screening hybridomas. The monoclonal antibody-producing hybridomas are derived by immunization of mice with a synthetic peptide corresponding to a hydrophilic region in the recombinant protein of interest. By using the baculovirus-produced recombinant protein as the screening antigen and by comparing antibody binding to filters containing control Sf9 lysates, hybridomas are identified that produce monoclonal antibodies with specific reactivity for the recombinant protein of interest and that can then subsequently be used to assist in the large-scale purification of the recombinant protein from baculovirus-infected cells. We applied this method to recombinant 26-kDa human Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2), an integral membrane oncoprotein that regulates programmed cell death ("apoptosis") in hematolymphoid cells through unknown mechanisms. Two mouse monoclonal antibodies were produced that specifically bound the recombinant Bcl-2 baculoprotein in both solution and solid-phase assays.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Phenotypic changes induced by interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IL-3 in an immature T-lymphocytic leukemia are associated with regulated expression of IL-2 receptor beta chain and of protein tyrosine kinases LCK and LYN.

We have previously reported the establishment of an interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent and phenotypically myeloid cell line (TALL-103/3), obtained by culturing cells from an immature T-lymphoblastic leukemia in the presence of IL-3. These cells differentiated into a T-lymphoid cell line (TALL-103/2) upon removal of IL-3 and incubation in IL-2. Despite the different phenotype, the two cell lines remained karyotypically and genotypically identical. Here, we have analyzed the phenotypic changes and the signaling events induced by these two lymphokines in TALL-103/3 cells by switching them to temporary growth in IL-2 and returning them to IL-3. All four sublines obtained (the myeloid in IL-3 and the lymphoid in IL-2) expressed RNA for CD3, IL-2 receptor (R) alpha, and T-cell receptor (TCR)-gamma and -delta chains. However, cells cultured in IL-3 failed to express detectable levels of the IL-2R beta chain at both the protein and RNA levels, whereas cells exposed to IL-2 always expressed IL-2R beta. In parallel with the changes in IL-2R beta expression, the SRC-like protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) p56 LCK could not be detected in IL-3-dependent cells, but was abundant in the IL-2-dependent cells and underwent markedly increased autophosphorylation in response to IL-2. In contrast, p53/p56 LYN was highly expressed in IL-3-dependent cells, and greatly decreased when these cells were switched to growth in IL-2. LYN kinase autophosphorylation modestly increased in response to IL-3. None of the other kinases in the SRC family that were tested underwent increased autophosphorylation after lymphokine stimulation, indicating the specificity of IL-2 for LCK and of IL-3 for LYN. The TALL-103 cell lines provide a unique system to study the interaction between lymphokines and SRC-family PTKs in signal transduction pathways leading to hematopoietic cell differentiation.

Cell Division↗

PubMed1992

Inhibition of thymocyte apoptosis and negative antigenic selection in bcl-2 transgenic mice.

The bcl-2 gene, which is overexpressed in human follicular B-cell lymphomas, has been found to extend cellular lifespan through inhibition of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. However, the physiological role of the Bcl-2 protein in lymphocyte development is unclear. We have established a transgenic mouse line that expresses high levels of the Bcl-2 protein in both cortical and medullary thymocytes, disrupting the normal pattern of expression of this gene. We found that in these mice, immature thymocytes became resistant to apoptosis mediated by corticosteroids and calcium ionophores. Untreated thymocytes also exhibited a survival advantage in suspension cultures compared with controls. In addition, overexpression of bcl-2 enabled a proportion of thymocytes and peripheral T cells to escape the process of clonal deletion, which normally eliminates self-reactive T cells during thymocyte maturation. These findings implicate the Bcl-2 protein in regulating the lifespan of maturing thymocytes and in the antigenic-selection process.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Interleukin-3 regulates the activity of the LYN protein-tyrosine kinase in myeloid-committed leukemic cell lines.

The lymphokine interleukin-3 (IL-3) promotes the growth and survival of immature hematopoietic cells. Previous studies have shown that IL-3 induces rapid increases in protein-tyrosine kinase (PTK) activity in IL-3--dependent cells. Unlike some other hematopoietic growth factor receptors (eg, c-fms and c-kit), however, the known subunits of the IL-3 receptor (IL-3R) lack intrinsic kinase activity. Recently, it was reported that the IL-2R (whose p75 beta-subunit shares sequence homology with a known murine IL-3R subunit and a common beta-subunit of the human IL-3R and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF] receptors) can physically associate with and regulate the activity of the SRC-family PTK, p56-LCK. Because most IL-3--dependent cells contain p53/56-LYN, but not p56-LCK, we explored the effects of IL-3 on the activities of LYN and other SRC-like PTKs in two human leukemic cell lines, AML-193 and TALL-101, which are phenotypically myeloid, and whose in vitro growth is dependent on IL-3. These cells expressed four of the eight known SRC-family proto-oncogenes: lyn, fyn, yes, and hck. When these factor-dependent leukemic cell lines were deprived of lymphokine to achieve cellular quiescence and then restimulated with IL-3, rapid increases (detectable within 1 minute and maximal by 10 minutes) were observed in the activity of the p53/56-LYN kinase, as assessed by in vitro kinase assays. In contrast, no alteration in the activities of other SRC-family PTKs present in these cells was detected after restimulation with IL-3 under the same conditions. This effect of IL-3 reflected an increase in the specific activity of the LYN kinase, because levels of the 53-Kd and 56-Kd LYN proteins were unaltered by IL-3 stimulation, as assessed by immunoblotting. Furthermore, the magnitude of these inducible increases in LYN kinase activity was dependent on the concentration of IL-3, and correlated with IL-3--induced proliferation. The IL-3--induced upregulation of LYN kinase activity may be mediated by the 120-Kd common subunit of the human IL-3 and GM-CSF receptors, because GM-CSF also stimulated marked increases in the activity of the LYN kinase, whereas granulocyte-CSF (G-CSF) did not, despite inducing cellular proliferation. These observations provide the first example of an IL-3--regulable PTK, and strongly suggest that the p53/56-LYN kinase participates in early IL-3--initiated signalling events, at least in some human leukemic cell lines.

Cell Line↗

PubMed1992

Cell cycle analysis of p26-BCL-2 protein levels in proliferating lymphoma and leukemia cell lines.

The BCL-2 (B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2) gene is frequently involved in t(14;18) translocations in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and encodes a 26-kDa intracellular, membrane-associated protein. Expression of the BCL-2 gene has previously been correlated with cellular proliferation in normal and neoplastic lymphoid cells under a variety of experimental conditions. To examine the regulation of p26-BCL-2 protein levels during the cell cycle, we utilized the method of counterflow centrifugal elutriation to enrich for cells in various phases of the cell cycle. Relative levels of p26-BCL-2 protein were measured by immunoblotting, and comparisons were made with a cell cycle-regulated protein, p62-CYCLIN-A, and a protein whose levels are constant throughout the cell cycle, p36-PCNA (DNA polymerase-delta auxiliary factor). Relative levels of p26-BCL-2 and p36-PCNA did not vary among cell fractions enriched for specific phases of the cell cycle, whereas p62-CYCLIN-A was elevated in late S- and G2/M-phase cells. Similar results were obtained with lymphoma and leukemia cell lines that have either normal or translocated BCL-2 genes. These results obtained by elutriation were confirmed by pharmacologically inducing cell cycle arrest in proliferating lymphoid cell lines with hydroxyurea, quercetin, and nocodazole which blocked cells at S, G2, and M phases, respectively. Taken together, the data indicate that p26-BCL-2 is not a true cell cycle-regulated protein, although its levels can fluctuate in connection with changes in rates of cellular proliferation under some circumstances.

Cell Cycle↗

PubMed1992

Interleukin 2 regulates the activity of the lyn protein-tyrosine kinase in a B-cell line.

Recently, interleukin 2 (IL-2) has been shown to induce increased activity of the p56lck protein-tyrosine kinase (PTK) in T-cell and natural killer cell lines, and evidence for a direct interaction between the p75 subunit of the IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) and this src-family kinase has been reported. Though these findings suggest a central role for lck in IL-2 signal transduction, one problem with this idea is that not all IL-2-responsive cells express the lck gene. For this reason, we examined the effects of IL-2 on the activity of src-like kinases in a pro-B cell line, F7, that lacks p56lck but that displays high-affinity IL-2Rs and vigorously proliferates in response to this lymphokine. Of the eight known src-family PTKs, F7 cells were shown to contain only p53/56lyn, p59fyn, and a small amount of p62yes. Stimulation of resting F7 cells with IL-2 induced a rapid (detectable within 1 min and maximal at 15 min) and concentration-dependent increase in the specific activity of p53/56lyn kinase, as assessed by in vitro kinase assays. This effect of IL-2 on p53/56lyn kinase was specific, since no IL-2-inducible changes were detected in the activities of the p59fyn and p62yes kinases. Furthermore, by using a monoclonal antibody specific for the approximately 75-kDa beta subunit of the IL-2R (referred to as p75/IL-2R beta), evidence for physical association between the lyn kinase and the IL-2R complex was obtained, in that a small proportion of the p53/56lyn kinase in F7 cells, but no detectable p59fyn kinase, was coimmunoprecipitated with p75/IL-2R beta. When combined with the recent evidence that IL-2 regulates p56lck in T cells, these results indicate that some flexibility exists in the ability of various src-like PTKs to participate in IL-2 signal transduction mechanisms and raise the possibility that lineage-specific (T-versus B-cell) responses to IL-2 may be determined at least in part by the repertoire of src-like PTKs expressed in the cell.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Frequent incidence of somatic mutations in translocated BCL2 oncogenes of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

The majority of non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphomas contain a t(14;18) translocation that places the bc12 gene into juxtaposition with the transcriptically active Ig heavy-chain locus, thus deregulating the expression of this proto-oncogene. The bc12 gene product is a membrane-associated mitochondrial protein that regulates cell survival through unknown mechanisms. Although overproduction of the normal protein appears sufficient for conferring a selective growth or survival advantage to B cells, point mutations that alter the coding region of translocated bc12 genes have been described previously by others in a lymphoma cell line. However, it is not known whether somatic mutations that alter BCL2 proteins occur in vivo or whether they result from chemotherapy or arise through other mechanisms. For these reasons, we obtained DNA from the t(14;18)-containing tumors of five patients who had not undergone treatment for their disease, and used a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-mismatch technique for rapid identification of point mutations in a portion of the bc12 open reading frame (ORF) corresponding to the first 131 aminoacids (aa) of the 239 aa p26 BCL2 protein. DNAs from two t(14;18)-containing cell lines were also analyzed. Point mutations in this region of the bc12 gene ORF were detected in three of five patients' tumors and in both cell lines. PCR-mismatch analysis of bc12 in cell lines and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases that lacked the t(14;18) translocation was negative, thus establishing the specificity of these results. DNA sequencing determined that these mutations are predicted to produce aa substitutions in the BCL2 proteins of two of the primary tumors and one of the cell lines. Interestingly, two of the patients contained an identical C----T transition that resulted in a nonconservative aa substitution (proline----serine) at position 59 of the BCL2 protein. Further analysis excluded the possibility that these mutations represented hereditary polymorphisms or PCR artifacts. A cluster of four point mutations within the translocation + bc12 allele of one patient had hallmarks of the somatic hypermutation mechanism that is associated with Ig genes and that contributes to antibody diversity. Because of the region of the bcl2 gene analyzed in these t(14;18) translocations is located nearly 300 kbp from the Ig heavy-chain locus, our data suggest that the Ig gene somatic hypermutation mechanism can act over extreme distances of DNA. It remains to be established whether these somatic mutations that alter BCL2 proteins influence the pathobiology of nonHodgkin's lymphomas.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Gene transfer investigations of p56-LCK function in IL-2-dependent T-cell lines: implications for mechanisms of IL-2-signal transduction.

Recently, the SRC-like non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase p56-LCK has been shown to physically associate with the interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2-R) complex and to undergo rapid elevations in its tyrosine kinase activity upon stimulation of T lymphocytes with IL-2. The functional significance of p56-LCK kinase activation for IL-2-mediated lymphocyte responses, however, has never been directly assessed. Using gene transfer approaches, we have achieved markedly elevated levels of p56-LCK kinase activity in the IL-2-dependent cytolytic T-cell line CTLL-2 and the helper line HT-2. CTLL-2 and HT-2 cells that were stably transfected with expression plasmids encoding either the normal human p56-LCK or a constitutively active version of the mouse p56-LCK kinase (LCK[Y505]) contained striking elevations in the levels of tyrosine phosphorylation on several proteins (34-36, 50-60, 62-68, 77-78, 104-110 kDa), as determined by immunoblot analysis using anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. CTLL-2 and HT-2 LCK- and LCK(Y505F)-transfected cells remained dependent on IL-2 for their growth and survival in culture despite the findings that (i) IL-2 specifically stimulated elevations in the activity of the endogenous p56-LCK in untransfected CTLL-2 cells without affecting the activities of the other SRC-like kinases in these cells (p59-FYN, p62-YES) and that (ii) IL-2-mediated regulation of p56-LCK correlated with IL-2-driven proliferation of these T cells. Specifically, no elevation in the proliferation (DNA synthesis) or growth of these T cells was found at any of the concentrations of IL-2 examined (0.01-25 U/ml), relative to untransfected and control transfected cells. Furthermore, when cultured in the absence of IL-2, transfected T cells whose relative levels of p56-LCK activity were elevated by approximately 20-50-fold died with the same kinetics as control cells and underwent apoptosis, as defined by uptake of trypan blue dye and DNA fragmentation assays, respectively. Taken together, these data indicate that while IL-2 can up-regulate the enzymatic activity of p56-LCK, elevated levels of p56-LCK tyrosine kinase activity are insufficient to stimulate IL-2-mediated pathways required for T-cell growth and survival. These findings thus imply the existence of other signal-transducing molecules, besides p56-LCK, that physically participate in IL-2R complexes and that are necessary for initiation of the biochemical events ultimately responsible for IL-2's pleiotropic actions on lymphocytes.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Interleukin 4 inhibits IL-2-induced proliferation of a human T-leukemia cell line without interfering with p56-LCK kinase activation.

Recently we described the establishment in culture and the immunophenotypic and functional characteristics of a human T-leukemia line TALL-103/2 derived from the T-cell receptor (TCR)-gamma/delta subset of T-lymphocytes. TALL-103/2 cells are absolutely dependent on interleukin 2 (IL-2) for their growth and survival in culture and thus provide a model cell line for studies of IL-2 signal transduction in a TCR-gamma/delta T-cell. In this report, we focus on the regulation of SRC-family protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) by IL-2. TALL-103/2 cells were found to contain p56-LCK, p59-FYN, p62-YES and p53/56-LYN. Stimulation of growth factor-deprived TALL-103/2 cells with IL-2, however, induced increases in the relative activity only of the p56-LCK kinase. This IL-2-mediated increase in LCK kinase activity was manifested both by increased kinase autophosphorylation and by increased phosphorylation of the exogenous substrate enolase during in vitro kinase assays. Furthermore, immunoblot assays determined that the levels of p56-LCK protein were unaltered by IL-2-treatment, indicating that the measured elevations in LCK kinase activity reflected an increase in the specific activity of this PTK. In TALL-103/2 cells, IL-2 stimulated concentration-dependent increases in p56-LCK activity that displayed rapid and transient kinetics: detectable increases occurred within 1 minute after IL-2 stimulation, peaked at 10 minutes, and declined to baseline levels by 30 minutes. Treatment of TALL-103/2 cells with IL-4 abrogated IL-2-initiated proliferation, but did not inhibit IL-2-mediated activation of p56-LCK.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Dose-Response Relationship, Drug↗

PubMed1992

Effects of p56lck deficiency on the growth and cytolytic effector function of an interleukin-2-dependent cytotoxic T-cell line.

The growth, differentiation, and functional activities of antigen-stimulated T lymphocytes are regulated by the interaction of the T-cell-derived cytokine, interleukin-2 (IL-2), with the high-affinity IL-2 receptor (IL-2R). IL-2R occupancy initiates a rapid increase in intracellular protein tyrosine phosphorylation, suggesting that a receptor-coupled protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) serves as a proximal signaling element for the IL-2R. Previous studies implicated the src-family kinase, p56lck, as a potential IL-2R-linked signal transducer. In this study, we have characterized a spontaneous variant of the IL-2-dependent cytotoxic T-cell line, CTLL-2, which contains no detectable lck-derived mRNA transcripts, protein, or PTK activity. The p56lck-deficient CTLL-2 cells retained strict dependence on IL-2 for both viability and growth, indicating that p56lck activity was not required for the transduction of IL-2-mediated mitogenic signals. However, the p56lck-deficient cells exhibited a moderate decrease in their rate of IL-2-dependent proliferation. In contrast to this relatively modest proliferative defect, the p56lck-deficient cell line displayed a profound reduction in T-cell antigen receptor-dependent cytolytic effector functions. Both the proliferative and the cytolytic defects observed in the p56lck-deficient cells were completely reversed by transfection of these cells with a wild-type lck expression vector. These results indicate that p56lck expression is not obligatory for IL-2-mediated T-cell growth stimulation; however, this PTK plays a central role in the generation T-cell-mediated cytotoxic responses.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Plain and computed radiography for detecting experimentally induced pneumothorax in cadavers: implications for detection in patients.

Pneumothorax was induced in cadavers to determine the effects of patient positioning and imaging modality (conventional screen-film and computed radiography) on radiographic findings. Chest radiography, with cadavers in the supine frontal, erect frontal, and left lateral decubitus positions, was performed at baseline and after injection of incremental quantities of air into the pleural space. Five radiologists independently interpreted each radiograph. The ability of the radiologists to diagnose pneumothorax varied by cadaver position and depended on volume of air. Overall, the left lateral decubitus view was most sensitive (88%) for diagnosis of pneumothorax, followed by the erect (59%) and supine (37%) views. Receiver operating characteristic curves and multiple repeated measures analysis of variance revealed no statistically significant difference between diagnostic proficiency with conventional screen-film radiography and that with computed radiography. The authors conclude that the lateral decubitus view is superior to the erect and supine views for pneumothorax detection and that conventional and computed radiography perform similarly in pneumothorax detection.

Cadaver↗

PubMed1992

Regulation of p26-bcl-2 protein levels in human peripheral blood lymphocytes.

BACKGROUND: The protein encoded by the bcl-2 (B cell lymphoma/leukemia-2) proto-oncogene has been implicated in the regulation of lymphocyte cell survival and has been shown to interfere with programmed cell death (apoptosis). Recently, controversy has emerged regarding the expression of bcl-2 in circulating peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and its correlation with lymphocyte proliferation. Using immunohistochemical methods, Pezzella et al. (Pezzella F, Tse G, Cordell J, Pulford K, Gatter K, Mason D. Am J Pathol 1990; 137:225-32) detected abundant amounts of Bcl-2 protein in resting PBLs and observed an inverse correlation between bcl-2 expression and cellular proliferation in lymphoid tissues. In contrast, previous in vitro studies of bcl-2 mRNAs showed that expression of this gene is very low in unstimulated PBLs but can be markedly induced when lymphocytes are stimulated to proliferate in culture (Reed JC, Tsujimoto Y, Alpers JD, Croce CM, Nowell PC. Science 1987; 236:1295-9; Granniger W, Seto M, Boutain B, Goldman P, Korsmeyer S. J Clin Invest 1987; 80:1512-5). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: To resolve this issue, the regulation of p26-Bcl-2 protein levels was examined in freshly isolated and in cultured human PBLs by immunoblotting using two different polyclonal antisera specific for the human Bcl-2 protein. RESULTS: When freshly isolated from whole blood, resting PBLs contained easily detectable amounts of p26-Bcl-2 protein that did not significantly change in culture when cellular proliferation was stimulated with mitogenic lectins and lymphokines. If processing of the blood was delayed, however, p26-Bcl-2 protein was low or undetectable in resting PBLs and underwent marked increases in its relative levels after in vitro stimulation of PBLs by mitogenic lectins and lymphokines. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that bcl-2 is normally expressed in quiescent circulating lymphocytes, consistent with a role for this gene in the maintenance of lymphocyte survival, and illustrate the importance of correlating in vitro and in vivo expression data.

Apoptosis↗

PubMed1992

Application of a PCR-mismatch technique to the BCL-2 gene: detection of point mutations in BCL-2 genes of malignancies with A t(14,18).

The ability to conveniently detect single-base mutations in the DNA of clinical material without prior knowledge of the mutant sequence remains a diagnostic challenge. Most techniques suffer from a lack of general applicability to all DNA sequences, poor sensitivity, requirement for RNA samples rather than DNA, or necessity for performing DNA sequencing to uncover unknown point mutations. Recently, Montandon, et al. (8) described a novel method whereby segments of DNA amplified by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) can be rapidly screened for mutations through their formation of heteroduplexes with an end-labeled reference DNA followed by site-specific chemical cleavage at mispaired bases. Here we have applied this PCR-mismatch technique to a portion of the BCL-2 gene, using DNA samples derived from the biopsy specimens of patients with lymphomas or lymphocytic leukemias. The BCL-2 gene becomes activated through a t(14;18) chromosomal translocation in the majority of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Somatic point mutations were detected in the BCL-2 genes of 3 of 5 patient samples that contained a t(14;18). No mutations were observed for lymphomas lacking a t(14;18), nor in the DNA of over 20 normal persons. Further analysis excluded the possibility that the detected mutations represented hereditary polymorphisms or PCR-artifacts. Based on comparisons with direct DNA sequencing, the PCR-mismatch technique appeared to be both highly specific and sensitive. The possible mechanisms responsible for these somatic mutations in translocated BCL-2 genes and their functional significance are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Regulation of SRC-family protein tyrosine kinases by interleukins, IL-2, and IL-3.

Unlike many other growth factor receptors, the known subunits of the receptors for the Interleukins IL-2 and IL-3 lack intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity, and yet increases in the phosphorylation of proteins on tyrosines is a rapid event in hematolymphoid cells following stimulation with these lymphokines. Here we show that IL-2 and IL-3 regulate the activity of specific members of the SRC-family of non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs). In IL-2-dependent T-cell lines, IL-2 induced rapid and transient increases in the activity of the p56-LCK kinase without influencing the activities of other SRC-like PTKs (p59-FYN, p62-YES) in these T-lymphocytes. In contrast to IL-2's effects on p56-LCK in T-cells, studies of an IL-2-responsive cell line of the B-cell lineage that lacks p56-LCK revealed that IL-2 specifically regulates the activity of the p53/56-LYN kinase. Thus, some flexibility exists in the ability of various SRC-like PTKs to functionally couple to IL-2 signalling pathways. In several IL-3-dependent myeloid-committed leukemic cell lines, IL-3 was found to specifically regulate the activity of the p53/56-LYN kinase without affecting the activities of other SRC-like PTKs (p59/64-HCK, p59-FYN, p62-YES) in these hematopoietic cells. This finding that p53/56-LYN can be regulated by both IL-2 in B-lineage cells and IL-3 in myeloid-committed cells demonstrates that the same SRC-family PTK can participate in signal transduction events mediated via two independent receptor systems. Taken together, our findings imply that the specific combinations of lymphokine receptors and SRC-like PTKs available for coupling with those receptors are coordinately controlled during the differentiation of hematopoietic cells.

Animals↗