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Autocrine and/or paracrine growth of adult T‐cell leukaemia tumour cells by interleukin 15
Author(s) -
Kukita Toshimasa,
Arima Naomichi,
Matsushita Kakushi,
Arimura Kosei,
Ohtsubo Hideo,
Sakaki Yoshimune,
Fujiwara Hiroshi,
Ozaki Atsuo,
Matsumoto Tadashi,
Tei Chuwa
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2141.2002.03813.x
Subject(s) - autocrine signalling , paracrine signalling , biology , cell growth , interleukin , interleukin 2 , antibody , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , cancer research , cytokine , cell culture , receptor , biochemistry , genetics
Summary. We previously demonstrated that interleukin 2 (IL‐2) autocrine/paracrine growth in adult T‐cell leukaemia (ATL) cells was closely correlated with clinical aggressiveness. In the present study, we compared the significance of IL‐15 and IL‐2 in growth of ATL cells and clinical aggressiveness. Thirty‐seven patients with ATL were examined: 19 acute and 18 chronic. Autonomous growth and IL‐2‐ or IL‐15‐responsive growth activities of ATL cells were measured by [ 3 H]‐thymidine incorporation after 24 h cultures in vitro . All of the autonomous, IL‐15‐ and IL‐2‐responsive growth activities of acute‐type cells were higher than those of chronic type ( P = 0·04, P = 0·03 and P = 0·02 respectively). IL‐15‐ and IL‐2‐responsive growth activities were highly correlated ( P = 0·0001, R 2 = 0·837). Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed detectable serum levels of IL‐15 and IL‐2 in 18 out of 19 and 14 out of 17 patients respectively. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) revealed IL‐15 and IL‐2 mRNA expression in 8 out of 11 patients' cells. Anti‐IL‐2 antibody partially inhibited autonomous growth of ATL cells; anti‐IL‐15 antibody was less effective. In situ immunochemistry detected IL‐15 in cells of three patients and was consistent with the results of RT‐PCR. These results suggest that ATL cells grow in an IL‐15 autocrine/paracrine manner and that this growth is related to disease aggressiveness in a manner similar to IL‐2.