Granulocyte-macrophage Colony-stimulating Factor Receptor Alpha Research Articles

Cellular characteristics of acute myeloblastic leukemia associated with t(8;21)(q22;q22). The Japanese Cooperative Group of Leukemia/Lymphoma.

A large number of AML cases is reviewed in order to clarify biological characteristics of t(8;21) AML cells. The incidence of positivities for stem cell antigens, CD34 and HLA-DR, on blasts in t(8;21) AML is higher in comparison with those in other M2 or M3 categories. Frequent expression of CD34 and HLA-DR is indicative of the stem cell derivation of t(8;21) AML cells. The non-blastic leukemic cells in t(8;21) AML tend to lose the immature phenotype with discordant maturation such as low CD33 expression. Further, the blasts show frequent expression of the B-cell antigen, CD19, without other B-cell antigens and immunoglobulin gene rearrangements. AML cells with t(8;21) showed poorer response to granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) due to a decreased number of GM-CSF binding sites. The absence of monocytic differentiation in t(8;21) AML cells might represent the abnormal response to growth factors at the bifurcation stage of granulocyte and monocyte differentiation. Recently, breakpoint region genes for the 8;21 translocation in chromosome 8 and 21 have been isolated, 48-50 and have been named AML1 and ETO, respectively. The AML1 gene showed a strong homology with the Drosophila segmentation gene, runt, which is thought to be necessary for the Sex lethal gene expression. Since the GM-CSF receptor alpha chain gene locates in the pseudoautosomal region of the sex chromosome, the decrease of GM-CSF binding sites might be related to the AML1/ETO fusion gene expression. Further molecular genetic investigations of the breakpoint genes in the future are expected to clarify the unique biological events seen in this type of leukemia.

THE GENES OF THE ALPHA-CHAIN AND BETA-CHAIN OF THE GM-CSP RECEPTOR ARE NOT REARRANGED IN PATIENTS WITH AML

Recently alterations in growth factor receptors, e.g. the erythropoietin receptor, have been described which cause increased sensitivity to growth factors or even autonomous growth independent from exogenous stimuli. We therefore investigated the gene structure of the alpha and beta chains of the GM-CSF receptor using Southern blots. EcoRI and HindIII digested DNA from peripheral blood samples from 34 consecutive patients with AML were hybridized with probes specific for the GM-CSF receptor alpha and beta chains. No abnormal DNA was detected. RNA expression was investigated by Northern blots in 32 patients. Expression of the beta chain was found in 30 of 32 patients. No messenger RNAs of aberrant size were detected. PCR reactions were performed with oligonucleotide primers specific for the alpha chain; c-DNAs were identified in all 10 patients studied. Thus we conclude that gene structure and expression of both chains of the GM-CSF receptor are not altered in AML.

Human Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Receptor Signal Transduction Requires the Proximal Cytoplasmic Domains of the α and β Subunits

Human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) controls the production, maturation, and function of cells in multiple hematopoietic lineages. These effects are mediated by a cell-surface receptor (GM-R) composed of alpha and beta subunits, each containing 378 and 881 amino acids, respectively. Whereas the alpha subunit exists as several isoforms that bind GM-CSF with low affinity, the beta common subunit (beta c) does not bind GM-CSF itself, but acts as a high-affinity converter for GM-CSF, interleukin-3 (IL-3), and IL-5 receptor alpha subunits. The cytoplasmic region of GM-R alpha consists of a membrane-proximal conserved region shared by the alpha 1 and alpha 2 isoforms and a C-terminal variable region that is divergent between alpha 1 and alpha 2. The cytoplasmic region of beta c contains membrane proximal serine and acidic domains. To investigate the amino acid sequences that influence signal transduction by this receptor complex, we constructed a series of cytoplasmic truncation mutants of the alpha 2 and beta subunits. To study these truncations, we stably transfected the IL-3-dependent murine cell line Ba/F3 with wild-type or mutant cDNAs. We found that the wild-type and mutant alpha subunits conferred similar low-affinity binding sites for human GM-CSF to Ba/F3, and the wild-type or mutant beta subunit converted some of these sites to high-affinity; the cytoplasmic domain of beta was unnecessary for this high-affinity conversion. Proliferation assays showed that the membrane-proximal conserved region of GM-R alpha and the serine-acidic domain of beta c are required for both cell proliferation and ligand-dependent phosphorylation of a 93-kD cytoplasmic protein. We suggest that these regions may represent an important signal transduction motif present in several cytokine receptors.

Human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor signal transduction requires the proximal cytoplasmic domains of the alpha and beta subunits

Human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) controls the production, maturation, and function of cells in multiple hematopoietic lineages. These effects are mediated by a cell-surface receptor (GM-R) composed of alpha and beta subunits, each containing 378 and 881 amino acids, respectively. Whereas the alpha subunit exists as several isoforms that bind GM-CSF with low affinity, the beta common subunit (beta c) does not bind GM-CSF itself, but acts as a high- affinity converter for GM-CSF, interleukin-3 (IL-3), and IL-5 receptor alpha subunits. The cytoplasmic region of GM-R alpha consists of a membrane-proximal conserved region shared by the alpha 1 and alpha 2 isoforms and a C-terminal variable region that is divergent between alpha 1 and alpha 2. The cytoplasmic region of beta c contains membrane proximal serine and acidic domains. To investigate the amino acid sequences that influence signal transduction by this receptor complex, we constructed a series of cytoplasmic truncation mutants of the alpha 2 and beta subunits. To study these truncations, we stably transfected the IL-3-dependent murine cell line Ba/F3 with wild-type or mutant cDNAs. We found that the wild-type and mutant alpha subunits conferred similar low-affinity binding sites for human GM-CSF to Ba/F3, and the wild-type or mutant beta subunit converted some of these sites to high- affinity; the cytoplasmic domain of beta was unnecessary for this high- affinity conversion. Proliferation assays showed that the membrane- proximal conserved region of GM-R alpha and the serine-acidic domain of beta c are required for both cell proliferation and ligand-dependent phosphorylation of a 93-kD cytoplasmic protein. We suggest that these regions may represent an important signal transduction motif present in several cytokine receptors.