Pim1 and Myc reversibly transform murine precursor B lymphocytes but not mature B lymphocytes

The proto-oncogenes Myc and Pim1, which are deregulated in many types of cancers, are known to cooperate in B lymphoma development. Here we show that overexpression of retrovirally transduced, doxycycline-inducible Myc alone in IL-7-deprived, growth-arrested pre-B cells enhanced cell cycle entry without impairing apoptosis. Overexpression of Pim1 decreased apoptosis, but had no effect on cell cycle entry. Co-expression of Pim1 and Myc inhibited apoptosis and led to IL-7-independent proliferation of the transduced pre-B cells in vitro, while blocking their differentiation to IgM(+) immature cells. Transplantation of Pim1/Myc overexpressing pre-BI cells into B-cell-deficient mice expanded the pre-B-cell compartments up to 100-fold within 4-8 weeks. Transformation remained dependent on the expression of both oncogenes, as removal of doxycycline in vitro and in vivo terminated proliferation and induced differentiation to IgM(+) B cells. In contrast, Pim1/Myc-transduced mature B cells that developed from the oncogene-transduced pre-BI cells in the absence of oncogene overexpression in vivo were not capable of long-term proliferation after induction of Pim and Myc overexpression, neither in vivo nor in vitro, neither with nor without stimulation by polyclonal activators.