Cytokine gene expression in neoplastic B cells from human mantle cell, follicular, and marginal zone lymphomas and in their postulated normal counterparts.
Cytokines may promote tumor growth by paracrine and/or autocrine pathways. Little information is available because malignant cells differ from their normal counterparts for the cytokine repertoire they express. Here we have investigated by reverse transcription-PCR the expression of 22 cytokine genes in neoplastic B lymphocytes from six patients with mantle cell lymphoma, 10 with follicular lymphoma, and 5 with marginal zone lymphoma and in their normal counterparts, i.e., naive, germinal center, and memory B cells, purified from tonsils. The overall profiles of cytokine gene expression in neoplastic B cells and in the corresponding normal B-cell subsets were similar, but some "holes" in the repertoire of malignant versus normal B lymphocytes were detected. Different "hole" combinations were identified consistently in mantle cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and marginal zone lymphoma, thus representing molecular fingerprints of each individual lymphoma entity.
Laboratory of Oncology, G. Gaslini Institut, Genova, Italy.
I
I
Airoldi
R
R
Guglielmino
F
F
Ghiotto
A
A
Corcione
P
P
Facchetti
M
M
Truini
V
V
Pistoia
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D020522:Lymphoma, Mantle-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D016207:Cytokines