IL-2 and myelopoiesis: IL-2 induces blast cell proliferation in some cases of acute myeloid leukaemia.
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) stimulated H-thymidine incorporation in the blasts of six of 21 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). An IL-2 induced increase in cell numbers was directly demonstrated in the two patients studied in this way, and T-cell contamination was rigorously excluded. The IL-2-induced proliferation was usually less marked than that caused by granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and IL-2 moderately enhanced GM-CSF-induced stimulation in five of the six patients; in the sixth, IL-2 and GM-CSF were strongly synergistic. IL-2-induced proliferation was observed only in AML with a monocytic component (M4/M5), but not all M4/M5 leukaemias responded to IL-2. There was no correlation between expression of the light-chain of the IL-2 receptor and IL-2-induced stimulation. It is suggested that IL-2 is involved at a restricted stage of early myelopoiesis, perhaps when cells are becoming committed to the monocytic lineage; and that IL-2 is a growth factor for early myeloid cells in a proportion of cases of AML.
Carron
J A
JA
University Department of Haematology, Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Cawley
J C
JC
D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D002455:Cell Division; D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004357:Drug Synergism; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D013936:Thymidine / Q000378:metabolism
D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors; D006133:Growth Substances; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; D013936:Thymidine