title: Biological activities of the lectin, abrin-a, against human lymphocytes and cultured leukemic cell lines.
abstract: The cytoagglutination by abrin-a against human cultured cell lines derived from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and human peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained from normal adults and from patients with adult T cell leukemia (ATL) was investigated. Among acute T lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cell lines, abrin-a showed strong cytoagglutination against relatively differentiated cell lines, such as Jurkat and CCRF-HSB-2. Among acute B lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) cell lines, abrin-a strongly agglutinated an immature cell line, NALM6. In comparison with ALL cell lines, cytoagglutination by abrin-a against normal lymphocytes was weak. Abrin-a showed higher cytoagglutination against lymphocytes derived from ATL than lymphocytes derived from normal adults. In connection with the cytoagglutination, abrin-a-induced cytotoxicity against human cultured leukemic cell lines was evaluated. In proportion to the extent of cytoagglutination, abrin-a induced cytotoxicity in Jurkat, CCRF-HSB-2, MOLT-4, RPMI8402, and BALL-1 as well. Although CCRF-CEM and BALM-1 were both weakly agglutinated by abrin-a, these cell lines were very sensitive to the abrin-a-induced cytotoxicity. NALM6 was strongly agglutinated by abrin-a, but abrin-a exhibited less strong cytotoxicity against this cell line. These results suggest the feasible application of abrin-a as a tool to distinguish the human leukemic cells and its potential for clinical application.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moriwaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohba
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sallay
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsubouchi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itoh
mesh_terms: D000036:Abrin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000328:Adult; D000371:Agglutination / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000592:standards; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D037102:Lectins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015459:Leukemia-Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell / Q000473:pathology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D000036:Abrin