CD109, a negative regulator of TGF-β signaling, is a putative risk marker in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

CD109 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored glycoprotein that negatively regulates TGF-β signaling. CD109 was originally identified in hematopoietic tumors; however, the significance of CD109 in hematopoietic malignancies remains unclear. Here, we study the association of CD109 with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) prognosis. Eighty-four DLBCL specimens were immunohistochemically analyzed for CD109 expression, and 31 and 53 cases were classified into low- and high-CD109 expression groups, respectively. CD109 expression was not associated with overall survival using the Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank tests (P = 0.17); however, a significant association was observed between high-CD109 expression and low-1-year survival (P = 0.01). Moreover, in combination with the revised International Prognostic Index (R-IPI), R-IPI-poor/CD109-high was associated with poorer prognosis compared with R-IPI-poor alone. We assessed TGF-β signaling in CD109-depleted Nalm6 cells (a human B-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma cell line), and found prolonged Smad2 phosphorylation compared with control cells after TGF-β1 stimulation, suggesting that CD109 attenuates TGF-β1 signaling in human B-cell tumors. These results suggest that CD109 is a putative biomarker for identifying a high-risk group among DLBCL patients.