title: Prevention of myeloma cell apoptosis by ectopic bcl-2 expression or interleukin 6-mediated up-regulation of bcl-xL.
abstract: Upon cytokine withdrawal, interleukin (IL) 6-dependent murine plasmacytoma/hybridoma (myeloma) cells die in a way characteristic of apoptosis. Although gene transfer-mediated elevation in Bcl-2 protein levels has been demonstrated to repress a number of apoptotic death programs, it has been reported that ectopic bcl-2 expression is unable to prolong the survival of IL-6-deprived myeloma cells. In view of the recent identification of Bax as a protein that antagonizes the anti-apoptotic function of Bcl-2, we sought to determine whether the inability of transfected bcl-2 to protect against myeloma cell apoptosis might simply be due to insufficient levels of Bcl-2 protein produced to counteract this inhibitor. We show here that high-level expression of an exogenous bcl-2 gene, introduced into IL-6-dependent B9 myeloma cells via retroviral or bovine papilloma virus-based vectors, is indeed able to suppress apoptotic death following cytokine deprivation, with the extent of protection provided correlating with the amount of Bcl-2 protein synthesized in relation to the amount of endogenous Bax protein present in the cells. Of note, however, we found that IL-6-mediated suppression of B9 apoptosis does not involve induction of endogenous bcl-2 expression but is associated instead with the upregulation of cellular bcl-x mRNA and Bcl-xL protein. These results thus extend the apoptotic death mechanisms that are inhibitable by both bcl-2 and bcl-xL to include that operative in IL-6-dependent cells and suggest that apoptosis in other cell types using the gp130 subunit of the IL-6 receptor might also be bcl-2 regulable or bcl-xL dependent.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Biology, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Schwarze
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Hawley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D014161:Transduction, Genetic; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051020:bcl-X Protein
chemical_list: C494812:Bcl2l1 protein, mouse; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D015850:Interleukin-6; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051020:bcl-X Protein