Expression of functional Fas antigen on adult T-cell leukemia.
The expression of Fas antigen was analyzed in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 12 patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) by flow cytometry. The induction of apoptosis in these cells by adding an anti-Fas antibody and the expression of activated T-cell surface antigens, CD25 and CD26, were also studied. It appears that the cells in ATL expressed a significantly larger number of Fas antigens than those in normal subjects (p < 0.01) and their fluorescent intensity was also shown to be much stronger in ATL (p < 0.01). The large number of ATL cells showed apoptosis in a short-term culture in the presence of the anti-Fas antibody. There was no difference in the expression of Fas antigen among ATL cells with different phenotypes of CD4+/CD8-, CD4-/CD8- and CD4+/CD8+ as well as with clinical subtypes of ATL. Interestingly, the expression of Fas and CD26 antigens showed a negative correlation (p < 0.01, r = 0.78). The strong expression of functional Fas antigen in ATL leads to the impression that anti-Fas antibody could be one of the treatment modalities for ATL which is known to be a very difficult disease to cope with.
Kotani
T
T
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Miyazaki Medical College, Kiyotake, Japan.
Aratake
Y
Y
Kondo
S
S
Tamura
K
K
Ohtaki
S
S
D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000032:analysis; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000276:immunology*; D017209:Apoptosis; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D018819:Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4; D006801:Humans; D015458:Leukemia, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D019014:fas Receptor
D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D019014:fas Receptor; D018819:Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4