title: Induction of Bcl-x(L) expression by human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 Tax through NF-kappaB in apoptosis-resistant T-cell transfectants with Tax.
abstract: Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) Tax is thought to play a pivotal role in immortalization of T cells. We have recently shown that the expression of Tax protected the mouse T-cell line CTLL-2 against apoptosis induced by interleukin-2 (IL-2) deprivation and converted its growth from being IL-2 dependent to being IL-2 independent. In this study, we demonstrate that constitutive expression of bcl-xl but not bcl-2, bcl-xs, bak, bad, or bax was associated with apoptosis resistance after IL-2 deprivation in CTLL-2 cells that expressed Tax. Transient-transfection assays showed that bcl-x promoter was transactivated by wild-type Tax. Similar effects were observed in mutant Tax retaining transactivating ability through NF-kappaB. Deletion or substitution of a putative NF-kappaB binding site identified in the bcl-x promoter significantly decreased Tax-induced transactivation. This NF-kappaB-like element was able to form a complex with NF-kappaB family proteins in vitro. Furthermore, Tax-induced transactivation of the bcl-x promoter was also diminished by the mutant IkappaBalpha, which specifically inhibits NF-kappaB activity. Our findings suggest that constitutive expression of Bcl-x(L) induced by Tax through the NF-kappaB pathway contributes to the inhibition of apoptosis in CTLL-2 cells after IL-2 deprivation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunotherapeutics, Medical Research Division, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsukahara
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kannagi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nunez
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwanaga
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohtani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujii
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D002460:Cell Line; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / Q000502:physiology*; D016356:Gene Products, tax / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000235:genetics*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D014162:Transfection; D051020:bcl-X Protein
chemical_list: C494811:BCL2L1 protein, human; C494812:Bcl2l1 protein, mouse; D016356:Gene Products, tax; D016328:NF-kappa B; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051020:bcl-X Protein