title: Interferon-alpha downregulates the abnormal intracytoplasmic free calcium concentration of tumor cells in hairy cell leukemia.
abstract: Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a B-cell tumor affecting the preplasma stage of B-cell differentiation. One important feature of the disease is its exquisite sensitivity to interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy. Because we showed earlier that the CD20 molecule is consistently hyperphosphorylated in hairy cells and because previous studies showed that CD20 is involved in regulating intracytoplasmic free calcium concentrations ([Ca2+]i) in normal B lymphocytes, we measured [Ca2+]i in tumor cell samples from patients with HCL and studied the effect of IFN-alpha on this parameter. Using the Ca(2+)-sensitive fluorophore fura-2, we observed that hairy cells display a slightly but consistently higher [Ca2+]i than normal 48-hour-activated B cells or other leukemic cells. Furthermore, both in vitro preincubation of cell samples with IFN-alpha and in vivo administration of this cytokine reduced the [Ca2+]i in hairy cells. This effect was observed together with a decrease in transmembrane Ca2+ influx. However, preincubation with IFN-gamma had no effect. The in vivo correlation between the diminution of CD20 phosphorylation and [Ca2+]i in tumor cell samples from patients at the beginning of IFN-alpha therapy suggests that these two parameters are connected.
authors.affiliation: Unité INSERM 196, Institut Curie, Paris, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Génot
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bismuth
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Degos
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sigaux
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wietzerbin
mesh_terms: D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D018951:Antigens, CD20; D000944:Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte / Q000378:metabolism; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004533:Egtazic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D016257:Fura-2; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007943:Leukemia, Hairy Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D018951:Antigens, CD20; D000944:Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D004533:Egtazic Acid; D002118:Calcium; D016257:Fura-2