Increased expression of p53 protein in human leukemia cells

We examined synthesis of the cellular phosphoprotein p53 in fresh bone marrow or peripheral blood cells from normal donors and from patients with leukemia, preleukemia, or other hematopoietic disorders. Lysates of cells labeled with [35S]methionine were immunoprecipitated with monoclonal antibodies to p53, and the immunoprecipitates were analyzed by NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Bone marrow or peripheral blood cells from 8 of 33 patients with hematopoietic disorders showed increased p53, seven of the eight occurring in cells of patients with preleukemia or acute myelogenous leukemia. Increased p53 synthesis was not associated with p53 gene amplification, as shown by Southern blot analysis. Synthesis of p53 was not increased in any of nine normal human bone marrow samples or eight normal human peripheral blood granulocyte, macrophage, and lymphocyte samples. The hematopoietic cells of patients in remission or with chronic forms of leukemia did not generally synthesize elevated levels of p53. In addition, we found negligible p53 mRNA and protein expression in a variety of human myeloid leukemia lines blocked at different stages of differentiation. Southern blot analysis showed that, except for the HL-60 cells, the p53 gene of the myeloid cell lines was intact. In view of recent evidence implicating p53 in transformation of cultured cells, our results using fresh leukemia cells suggest that p53 may contribute to the phenotype of certain leukemias in vivo.