title: Effect of the acute promyelocytic leukemia PML/RAR alpha protein on differentiation and survival of myeloid precursors.
abstract: Acute promyelocytic leukaemia is characterized by an expansion of haematopoietic precursors arrested at the promyelocytic stage (1). The differentiation block can be reversed by retinoic acid, which induces blast differentiation both in vitro (2) and in vivo (3-4). Acute promyelocytic leukaemia is also characterized by a 15;17 chromosome translocation (5) with breakpoints within the retinoic acid alpha receptor (RAR alpha) gene on 17 and within the PML gene, that encodes a putative transcription factor of unknown function (6-7), on 15 (8-10). As a consequence of the translocation a PML/RAR alpha gene is formed. It is transcriptionally active and encodes a PML/RAR alpha fusion protein detectable in all APL cases (11-14). We expressed the PML/RAR alpha protein in U937 myeloid precursor cell line and show that they: 1) lose the capacity to differentiate under the action of different stimuli (vitamin D3, transforming growth factor beta 1); ii) acquire enhanced sensitivity to retinoic acid; iii) exhibit a higher growth rate that is due to a reduction in apoptotic cell death. These results provide the first evidence of biological activity of PML/RAR alpha and recapitulate critical features of the promyelocytic leukemia phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Clinica medica I, Università degli Studi Perugia, Policlinico Monteluce, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fagioli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grignani
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alcalay
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mencarelli
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nicoletti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grignani
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Pelicci
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D015473:Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute / Q000473:pathology; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D000071156:Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D013431:Sulfates / Q000494:pharmacology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D017967:Zinc Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D019287:Zinc Sulfate
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D000071156:Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; D013431:Sulfates; D014157:Transcription Factors; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D017967:Zinc Compounds; C070576:PML protein, human; D014212:Tretinoin; D019287:Zinc Sulfate; D004247:DNA