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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Generation of Human CD40-activated B cells
Published on: October 16, 2009
CD40 Ligand--an anti-apoptotic molecule in Hodgkin's disease
S S Metkar1, P P Manna, M Anand
1Immunology Division, Cancer Research Institute, Tata Memorial Centre, Parel, Mumbai 400 012, India.
Abstract:
The expression of CD40L was investigated in HD involved lymph nodes by flow cytometry (FCM) and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Also an investigation of the role of CD40L in upregulation of the anti-apoptotic gene BclxL in a Hodgkin's disease (HD) derived cell line was undertaken. HD patients (n = 18) had significantly higher numbers of activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment as compared to controls (n = 8). HD patients also demonstrated higher numbers of CD4+, CD8+ and CD19+ lymphocytes co-expressing CD40L as compared to controls. The CD40L signal was consistently and significantly upregulated in HD patients (n = 5) as compared to controls (n = 3) at the mRNA level. RT-PCR and FCM analysis revealed that soluble CD40L upregulated BclxL levels in the Fas-sensitive HD cell line HDLM2. We conclude that CD40L can act as an important anti-apoptotic molecule by upregulating BclxL expression in Reed-Sternberg cells of HD and may be partly responsible for their survival 'in-vivo'.
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