title: The AKT kinase is activated in multiple myeloma tumor cells.
abstract: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on archived bone marrow (BM) with a phosphospecific anti-AKT antibody. IHC on 26 BM biopsies from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) demonstrated phospho-AKT staining of malignant plasma cells in a cell membrane-specific pattern, whereas nonmalignant hematopoietic cells did not stain. Preabsorption of the antibody with phosphorylated AKT peptide, but not nonphosphorylated peptide, abrogated staining. Frequency of plasma cell staining in BMs of patients with stage I or smoldering MM was significantly less than that of stage III MM marrows. Plasma cells in 10 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance were not stained by the antibody. To investigate the significance of AKT activation, 2 cell lines initiated from cultures of primary MM cells were also studied. Both demonstrated constitutive AKT activation. Interruption of AKT activation and activity, achieved by either exposure to wortmannin or by ectopic expression of a dominant negative AKT mutant, resulted in inhibition of MM cell growth in vitro. These results indicate that activation of the AKT kinase is a characteristic of MM cells and suggest that AKT activity is important for MM cell expansion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Pathology, West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krajewski
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Renner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lichtenstein
mesh_terms: D000730:Androstadienes / Q000494:pharmacology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D014162:Transfection; D000077191:Wortmannin
chemical_list: D000730:Androstadienes; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; C494918:AKT1 protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D000077191:Wortmannin