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Retroviral expression of the human IL‐2 gene in a murine T cell line results in cell growth autonomy and tumorigenicity.
Author(s) -
Yamada G.,
Kitamura Y.,
Sonoda H.,
Harada H.,
Taki S.,
Mulligan R. C.,
Osawa H.,
Diamantstein T.,
Yokoyama S.,
Taniguchi T.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02563.x
Subject(s) - biology , genetics
In mature T lymphocytes (T cells) the regulated expression of the genes for interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) and its receptor (IL‐2R) constitutes an essential part in controlling the cell growth. Evidence has been provided which suggests the involvement of an aberrant function of the IL‐2 system in developing T cell neoplasms, particularly the adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). As an approach to examine the extent of the IL‐2 system contribution to T cell neoplasms, we created the experimental conditions wherein both IL‐2 and IL‐2R are expressed constitutively in a murine T cell line. We made use of a retroviral vector to infect an IL‐2‐dependent CTLL‐2 line and lead to the expression of human IL‐2. Here, we show that the virus‐infected cells not only proliferate in vitro in the absence of exogenously supplied IL‐2 under certain conditions, but also develop tumors (lymphomas) in nude and syngeneic mice.