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HTLV-I infection and chronic lymphocytic leukemia
D L Mann1, F LeSane, D Boumpas
1Biochemical Epidemiology Section, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892.
We have captured the immunoglobulin genes of CLL cells by fusing the peripheral blood lymphocytes from CLL cells with the B lymphoblastoid line. The hybridoma cell line established from the fusion of CLL cell from two patients who were HTLV-I seropositive produced antibody directed against HTLV-I proteins. The antibody activity of the immunoglobulin produced by the fused cells is different in the two patients in one case being directed against a gag protein and in the other against the viral large envelope protein. In an attempt to explore possible mechanisms whereby HTLV-I may contribute indirectly to the pathogenesis of B cell CLL, we have determined that B cell lines infected with HTLV-I produce growth factor(s) which stimulate and expand populations of normal B cells as well as CLL cells. These results suggest that HTLV-I infection may contribute in several ways to the development of a malignancy in cell where the virus is not present in the cellular genome.
We have captured the immunoglobulin genes of CLL cells by fusing the peripheral blood lymphocytes from CLL cells with the B lymphoblastoid line. The hybridoma cell line established from the fusion of CLL cell from two patients who were HTLV-I seropositive produced antibody directed against HTLV-I proteins. The antibody activity of the immunoglobulin produced by the fused cells is different in the two patients in one case being directed against a gag protein and in the other against the viral large envelope protein. In an attempt to explore possible mechanisms whereby HTLV-I may contribute indirectly to the pathogenesis of B cell CLL, we have determined that B cell lines infected with HTLV-I produce growth factor(s) which stimulate and expand populations of normal B cells as well as CLL cells. These results suggest that HTLV-I infection may contribute in several ways to the development of a malignancy in cell where the virus is not present in the cellular genome.