Regulatory effect of Act1 on the BAFF pathway in B-cell malignancy

The aim of the present study was to ascertain whether nuclear factor (NF)-κB Activator 1 (Act1) was involved in B cell-activating factor (BAFF) regulation in B-cell malignancy. The human B-cell malignancy cell lines Raji, Daudi and BALL-1 were cultured and the expression of BAFF receptor (BAFF-R) mRNA and protein was analyzed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting, respectively. NF-κB signaling was also assessed using western blotting. Act1 silencing was performed using Act1 small interfering RNA. BAFF-R levels were assessed using flow cytometry. It was demonstrated that BAFF-R was upregulated in all three cell lines and RT-qPCR, and western blotting confirmed these results. Act1 overexpression was demonstrated to induce BAFF-R upregulation, whereas Act1 knockdown resulted in BAFF-R downregulation. Furthermore, the NF-κB pathway was activated by Act1 overexpression and inhibited following Act1 knockdown. The results of the present study demonstrated that Act1 can regulate BAFF via targeting NF-κB signaling, which suggests that Act1 may be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of B-cell malignancy.