title: bcl-2 proto-oncogene expression in normal and neoplastic human myeloid cells.
abstract: The present study provides immunobiochemical and molecular data on the differentiation-linked expression of the bcl-2 proto-oncogene in normal and neoplastic myeloid cells. Using a recently developed monoclonal antibody (MoAb) to the bcl-2 molecule, staining of normal bone marrow myeloblasts, promyelocytes, and myelocytes, but neither monocytes nor most polymorphonuclear cells, was demonstrated. By two-color flow cytometric analysis, bcl-2 was evidenced in CD33+ and CD33+/CD34+ myeloid cells as well as in the more primitive CD33-/CD34+ population. The leukemic cell lines HL-60, KG1, GM-1, and K562 were bcl-2 positive together with 11 of 14 acute myeloid leukemias (AML) and three of three chronic myeloid leukemias (CML) in blast crises; six of seven CML were negative. Among myelodysplastic cases, augmentation of the bcl-2 positive myeloblastic compartment was found in refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB) and in transformation (RAEB-t). Western blots of myeloid leukemias and control lymphocytes extracts evidenced an anti-bcl-2 immunoreactive band of the expected size (26 Kd). Moreover, the HL-60 and KG1 cell lines, both positive for the bcl-2 protein, exhibited the appropriate size bcl-2 mRNA (7.5 Kb). These findings clearly indicate that the bcl-2 gene is operative in myeloid cells and that the anti-bcl-2 MoAb identifies its product and not a cross-reactive epitope. Induction of HL-60 differentiation toward the monocytic and granulocytic pathways was accompanied by a marked decrease in bcl-2 mRNA and protein levels; bivariate flow cytometric analysis showed that the fraction becoming bcl-2 negative was in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. These data establish that the bcl-2 proto-oncogene is expressed on myeloid cells and their progenitors and is regulated in a differentiation-linked manner.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale per Lo Studio e La Cura Dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Delia
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aiello
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Soligo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fontanella
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Melani
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pezzella
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pierotti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Della Porta
mesh_terms: D000754:Anemia, Refractory, with Excess of Blasts / Q000378:metabolism; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000737:chemistry; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015870:Gene Expression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007938:Leukemia / Q000378:metabolism*; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000378:metabolism; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000378:metabolism; D015473:Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute / Q000378:metabolism; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger