NF-κB involvement in the activation of primary adult T-cell leukemia cells and its clinical implications

Abstract The HTLV-I provirus-encoded Tax protein induces NF-κB in Tax-transfected Jurkat T cells or HTLVL-I- infected T cells in vitro. Tax induction of NF-κB is presumed to be involved in proliferation and activation of primary leukemia cells in vivo. Recent studies have demonstrated that NF-κB activities in human T cells are mediated by at least four c-Rel-related DNA binding proteins - p50, p55, p75 and p85. We examined the significance of NF-κB induction in primary adult T cell leukemia cells and the induction kinetics of each of the four NF-κB species. Marked NF-κB activity was detected using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) in the primary cells of patients with acute disease, but little activity was noted in the cells of chronic patients. NF-κB activity was enhanced in a time-dependent manner in acute type cells cultured with mitogen-free medium; there was no induction of activity in chronic type cells. UV crosslinking demonstrated all four species of NF-κB complex - high levels of p50 and lower levels of p55 and p75 , in acute type cells; chronic type cells showed only the p50. As a control, normal resting T cells similarly showed only p50; control cells showed little change in activity when cultured without mitogenic stimulation, analogous to chronic type ATL. Northern blotting revealed enhancement of c-rel (encoding p85) and KBF1 (encoding p50 and p55) expression in acute type cells during culture, while there was no significant enhancement of mRNAs in chronic type ATL cells or unstimulated normal T cells. Northern blotting also revealed that Tax is upregulated at the mRNA level in acute- but not chronic-type cells during culture. Expression of c-rel and KBF1 mRNAs in acute type cells appeared to be related to Tax mRNA expression. These results suggest that Tax is capable of inducing nuclear expression of all four NF-κB species in primary ATL cells of acute type patients, with marked effects on p55, p75, and p85. Tax induction of NF-κB species is regulated, at least in part, at a pretranslational level involving increases in c-rel and KBF1 mRNA.