Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt signaling mediates interleukin-6 protection against p53-induced apoptosis in M1 myeloid leukemic cells.

M1 myeloid leukemic cells were used to dissect the molecular mechanisms of myeloid cell survival and apoptosis. A salient feature of M1 cells is that they respond to the physiological survival factor interleukin-6 (IL-6), yet lack the tumor suppressor gene p53. Functional wild-type activation of temperature-sensitive p53 protein (p53 val) at permissive temperature in M1-t-p53 cells results in rapid apoptosis, which is blocked by IL-6. How p53 induces M1 apoptosis and how IL-6 protects against p53-induced apoptosis are not fully understood. Here it is shown that p53-mediated apoptosis of M1 cells involves rapid activation of the proapoptotic Fas/CD95 death pathway, which activates caspases 8 and 10. Functional p53 also targets the mitochondria, causing upregulation of proapoptotic Bax, downregulation of prosurvival Bcl-2 and activation of caspase 9. IL-6 was found to protect against p53-induced apoptosis via activation of the PI3K/Akt survival pathway, which in turn counters both the Fas/CD95 and mitochondrial apoptotic pathways and activates the prosurvival transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB). Taken together, this work supports a novel model for leukemic progression where cells that acquire the ability to produce an autocrine survival factor, such as IL-6, can bypass normal p53 surveillance function by targeting Akt, which in turn can exert effects on the regulators of apoptosis, such as the Fas/CD95 pathway, the mitochondria and NF-kappaB.

Hematopoietic cells from gadd45a-deficient and gadd45b-deficient mice exhibit impaired stress responses to acute stimulation with cytokines, myeloablation and inflammation.

The gadd45 family of gene(s) is rapidly induced by genotoxic stress or by differentiation-inducing cytokines. Using bone marrow (BM) from gadd45a-/-, gadd45b-/- and wild-type (wt) mice, we investigated their role in stress responses of myeloid cells to acute stimulation with differentiating cytokines, myelotoxic agents and inflammatory substances. Bone marrow cells from gadd45a-/- and gadd45b-/- mice displayed compromised myeloid differentiation and higher apoptosis in vitro, following acute stimulation with a variety of differentiating cytokines. Intriguingly, gadd45a-/- and gadd45b-/- colony forming units granulocyte/macrophage progenitors displayed prolonged proliferation capacity compared to wt controls upon re-plating in methylcellulose supplemented with interleukin-3. The recovery of the BM myeloid compartment following 5-Fluorouracil-induced myelo-ablation was much slower in gadd45a-/- and gadd45b-/- mice compared to wt controls. Furthermore, the response of myeloid cells to inflammatory stress, inflicted via intraperitoneal administration of sodium caseinate was impaired in gadd45a-/- and gadd45b-/- mice compared to age-matched wt mice, as indicated by lower percentage of Gr-1-positive cells in the BM and lower number of myeloid cells in peritoneal exudates. Overall, these data indicate that both gadd45a and gadd45b play a role in modulating physiological stress responses of myeloid cells to acute stimulation with differentiating cytokines, myelo-ablation and inflammation. These findings should aid in understanding the response of normal and malignant hematopoietic cells to physiological and chemical stressors including anticancer agents.

Interleukin-6- and leukemia inhibitory factor-induced terminal differentiation of myeloid leukemia cells is blocked at an intermediate stage by constitutive c-myc.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), two multifunctional cytokines, recently have been identified as physiological inducers of hematopoietic cell differentiation which also induce terminal differentiation and growth arrest of the myeloblastic leukemic M1 cell line. In this work, it is shown that c-myc exhibited a unique pattern of expression upon induction of M1 terminal differentiation by LIF or IL-6, with an early transient increase followed by a decrease to control levels by 12 h and no detectable c-myc mRNA by 1 day; in contrast, c-myb expression was rapidly suppressed, with no detectable c-myb mRNA by 12 h. Vectors containing the c-myc gene under control of the beta-actin gene promoter were transfected into M1 cells to obtain M1myc cell lines which constitutively synthesized c-myc. Deregulated and continued expression of c-myc blocked terminal differentiation induced by IL-6 or LIF at an intermediate stage in the progression from immature blasts to mature macrophages, precisely at the point in time when c-myc is normally suppressed, leading to intermediate-stage myeloid cells which continued to proliferate in the absence of c-myb expression.

Deregulated c-myb disrupts interleukin-6- or leukemia inhibitory factor-induced myeloid differentiation prior to c-myc: role in leukemogenesis.

The c-myb proto-oncogene is abundantly expressed in tissues of hematopoietic origin, and changes in endogenous c-myb genes have been implicated in both human and murine hematopoietic tumors. c-myb encodes a DNA-binding protein capable of trans-activating the c-myc promoter. Suppression of both of these proto-oncogenes was shown to occur upon induction of terminal differentiation but not upon induction of growth inhibition in myeloid leukemia cells. Myeloblastic leukemia M1 cells that can be induced for terminal differentiation with the physiological hematopoietic inducers interleukin-6 and leukemia inhibitory factor were genetically manipulated to constitutively express a c-myb transgene. By using immediate-early to late genetic and morphological markers, it was shown that continuous expression of c-myb disrupts the genetic program of myeloid differentiation at a very early stage, which precedes the block previously shown to be exerted by deregulated c-myc, thereby indicating that the c-myb block is not mediated via deregulation of c-myc. Enforced c-myb expression also prevents the loss in leukemogenicity of M1 cells normally induced by interleukin-6 or leukemia inhibitory factor. Any changes which have taken place, including induction of myeloid differentiation primary response genes, eventually are reversed. Also, it was shown that suppression of c-myb, essential for terminal differentiation, is not intrinsic to growth inhibition. Taken together, these findings show that c-myb plays a key regulatory role in myeloid differentiation and substantiate the notion that deregulated expression of c-myb can play an important role in leukemogenicity.

The zinc finger transcription factor Egr-1 potentiates macrophage differentiation of hematopoietic cells.

Previously we have shown that the zinc finger transcription factor Egr-1 is essential for and restricts differentiation of hematopoietic cells along the macrophage lineage, raising the possibility that Egr-1 actually plays a deterministic role in governing the development of hematopoietic precursor cells along the monocytic lineage. To test this hypothesis, we have taken advantage of interleukin-3-dependent 32Dcl3 hematopoietic precursor cells which, in addition to undergoing granulocytic differentiation in response to granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, were found to be induced for limited proliferation, but not differentiation, by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. It was shown that ectopic expression of Egr-1 blocked granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-induced terminal granulocytic differentiation, consistent with previous findings. In addition, ectopic expression of Egr-1 endowed 32Dcl3 cells with ability to be induced by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor for terminal differentiation exclusively along the macrophage lineage. Thus, evidence that Egr-1 potentiates terminal macrophage differentiation has been obtained, suggesting that Egr-1 plays a deterministic role in governing the development of hematopoietic cells along the macrophage lineage.

Proto-oncogenes of the fos/jun family of transcription factors are positive regulators of myeloid differentiation.

The proto-oncogenes c-jun, junB, junD, and c-fos recently have been shown to encode for transcription factors with a leucine zipper that mediates dimerization to constitute active transcription factors; juns were shown to dimerize with each other and with c-fos, whereas fos was shown to dimerize only with juns. After birth, hematopoietic cells of the myeloid lineage, and some other terminally differentiated cell types, express high levels of c-fos. Still, the role of fos/jun transcription factors in normal myelopoiesis or in leukemogenesis has not been established. Recently, c-jun, junB, and junD were identified as myeloid differentiation primary response genes stably expressed following induction of terminal differentiation of myeloblastic leukemia M1 cells. Intriguingly, c-fos, though induced during normal myelopoiesis, was not induced upon M1 differentiation. To gain further insights into the role of fos/jun in normal myelopoiesis and leukemogenicity, M1fos and M1junB cell lines, which constitutively express c-fos and junB, respectively, were established. It was shown that enforced expression of c-fos, and to a lesser extent junB, in M1 cells results in both an increased propensity to differentiate and a reduction in the aggressiveness of the M1 leukemic phenotype. M1fos cells constitutively expressed immediate-early and late genetic markers of differentiated M1 cells. The in vitro differentiation of normal myeloblasts into mature macrophages and granulocytes, as well as the increased propensity of M1fos leukemic myeloblasts to be induced for terminal differentiation, was dramatically impaired with use of c-fos antisense oligomers in the culture media. Taken together, these observations show that the proto-oncogenes which encode for fos/jun transcription factors play important roles in promoting myeloid differentiation. The ability of the M1 leukemic myeloblasts to be induced for terminal differentiation in the absence of apparent fos expression indicates that there is some redundancy among the fos/jun family of transcription factors in promoting myeloid differentiation; however, juns alone cannot completely compensate for the lack of fos. Thus, genetic lesions affecting fos/jun expression may play a role in the development of "preleukemic" myelodysplastic syndromes and their further progression to leukemias.

The novel primary response gene MyD118 and the proto-oncogenes myb, myc, and bcl-2 modulate transforming growth factor beta 1-induced apoptosis of myeloid leukemia cells.

Cell numbers are regulated by a balance among proliferation, growth arrest, and programmed cell death. A profound example of cell homeostasis, controlled throughout life, is the complex process of blood cell development, yet little is understood about the intracellular mechanisms that regulate blood cell growth arrest and programmed cell death. In this work, using transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF beta 1)-treated M1 myeloid leukemia cells and genetically engineered M1 cell variants, the regulation of growth arrest and apoptosis was dissected. Blocking of early expression of MyD118, a novel differentiation primary response gene also shown to be a primary response gene induced by TGF beta 1, delayed TGF beta 1-induced apoptosis, demonstrating that MyD118 is a positive modulator of TGF beta 1-mediated cell death. Elevated expression of bcl-2 blocked the TGF beta 1-induced apoptotic pathway but not growth arrest induced by TGF beta 1. Deregulated expression of either c-myc or c-myb inhibited growth arrest and accelerated apoptosis, demonstrating for the first time that c-myb plays a role in regulating apoptosis. In all cases, the apoptotic response was correlated with the level of MyD118 expression. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the primary response gene MyD118 and the c-myc, c-myb, and bcl-2 proto-oncogenes interact to modulate growth arrest and apoptosis of myeloid cells.

Leukemia inhibitory factor and interleukin-6 trigger the same immediate early response, including tyrosine phosphorylation, upon induction of myeloid leukemia differentiation.

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), two multifunctional cytokines lacking structural homology and binding to distinct receptors, share interesting functional similarities, which include induction of hematopoietic differentiation in normal and myeloid leukemia cells, induction of neuronal cell differentiation, and stimulation of acute-phase protein synthesis in hepatocytes. Structural information on the LIF receptor is not yet available, whereas recent cloning of the IL-6 receptor has shown it to be bipartite, with a signal-transducing subunit that lacks sequence homology to known protein kinases and produces second messengers of unknown nature. The molecular nature of the mechanisms which LIF and IL-6 use to induce cell differentiation is not known. To address this issue, we took advantage of a clone of M1 myeloblastic leukemia cells capable of being induced for terminal differentiation by both LIF and IL-6 directly activate the same set of immediate early response genes upon induction of M1 myeloid differentiation. At least two mechanisms of gene activation, one transcriptional and the other posttranscriptional, are shown to be involved. It is also shown that the LIF and IL-6 immediate early response, at suboptimal cytokine concentrations, is additive. Using a variety of protein kinase activators and inhibitors, we have shown that the intracellular signalling pathways for both LIF and IL-6 are distinct from those of known second messengers and involve protein phosphorylation, notably tyrosine phosphorylation of a 160-kDa protein, as an essential step(s) in the immediate early activation of MyD gene expression. These observations indicate that the functional similarities of LIF and IL-6 as inducers of cell differentiation prevail at the level of the complex differentiation immediate early response and implicate common mechanisms of signal transduction for LIF- and IL-6-induced differentiation.

The gadd and MyD genes define a novel set of mammalian genes encoding acidic proteins that synergistically suppress cell growth.

A remarkable overlap was observed between the gadd genes, a group of often coordinately expressed genes that are induced by genotoxic stress and certain other growth arrest signals, and the MyD genes, a set of myeloid differentiation primary response genes. The MyD116 gene was found to be the murine homolog of the hamster gadd34 gene, whereas MyD118 and gadd45 were found to represent two separate but closely related genes. Furthermore, gadd34/MyD116, gadd45, MyD118, and gadd153 encode acidic proteins with very similar and unusual charge characteristics; both this property and a similar pattern of induction are shared with mdm2, whic, like gadd45, has been shown previously to be regulated by the tumor suppressor p53. Expression analysis revealed that they are distinguished from other growth arrest genes in that they are DNA damage inducible and suggest a role for these genes in growth arrest and apoptosis either coupled with or uncoupled from terminal differentiation. Evidence is also presented for coordinate induction in vivo by stress. The use of a short-term transfection assay, in which expression vectors for one or a combination of these gadd/MyD genes were transfected with a selectable marker into several different human tumor cell lines, provided direct evidence for the growth-inhibitory functions of the products of these genes and their ability to synergistically suppress growth. Taken together, these observations indicate that these genes define a novel class of mammalian genes encoding acidic proteins involved in the control of cellular growth.

Normal development, oncogenesis and programmed cell death.

Meeting's Report -- June 2, 1998, Sugarload Estate Conference Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. A symposium on Normal Development, Oncogenesis and Programmed Cell Death, was held at the Sugarload Estate Conference Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA sponsored by the Fels Cancer Institute, Temple University School of Medicine, with the support of the Alliance Pharmaceutical Corporation. The symposium was organized by Drs Dan A Liebermann and Barbara Hoffman at the Fels. Invited speakers included: Dr Andrei V Gudkov (University of Illinois) who started the symposium talking about 'New cellular factors modulating the tumor suppressor function of p53'; Dr Yuri Lazebnik (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories) spoke about 'Caspases considered as enemies within'; Dr E Premkumar Reddy (Fels Institute, Temple University) talked about recent exciting findings in his laboratory regarding 'JAK-STATs dedicated signaling pathways'; Dr Michael Greenberg (Harvard University) spoke about 'Signal transduction pathways that regulate differentiation and survival in the developing nervous system'; Dr Richard Kolesnick's (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) talk has been focused at 'Stress signals for apoptosis, including Ceramide and c-Jun Kinase/Stress-activated Protein Kinase'; Dr Barbara Hoffman (Fels Institute, Temple University) described research, conducted in collaboration with Dr Dan A Liebermann, aimed at deciphering the roles of 'myc, myb, and E2F as negative regulators of terminal differentiation', using hematopoietic cells as model system. Dr Daniel G Tenen (Harvard Medical School), described studies aimed at understanding the 'Regulation of hematopoietic cell development by lineage specific transcription regulators'. Dr George C Prendergast (The Wistar Institute) talked about the 'Myc-Bin1 signaling pathway in cell death and differentiation. Dr Ruth J Muschel (University of Pennsylvania) spoke about work, conducted in collaboration with Dr WG McKenna, aimed at gaining a better understanding of 'Radioresistance and the cell cycle'. Finally Dr Donald Kufe concluded the symposium (Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School) describing studies that were performed in his laboratory addressing the 'Role for the c-Abl tyrosine kinase in genetic recombination'.

Proto-oncogene expression and dissection of the myeloid growth to differentiation developmental cascade.

Physiological inducers of myeloid cell growth and differentiation were used to simultaneously analyze the expression of the proto-oncogenes c-myc, c-myb, c-fos, c-fes and c-fms during normal myelopoiesis, where growth is coupled to differentiation, as compared with that in leukemia, where growth has been uncoupled from differentiation as well as upon suppression of the leukemic phenotype via induction of differentiation and growth arrest. Proto-oncogene expression was also used as a tool to dissect the growth to differentiation developmental cascade. Myeloid cell growth was correlated with high c-myc and c-myb RNA levels, decreasing to undetectable levels in terminally differentiated cells. No c-myc RNA was detected in normal myeloid progenitors induced for differentiation without growth, using media conditioned by mouse granulocytes (GCM), indicating that c-myc may play either no role or an inhibitory one in differentiation. RNA levels of the proto-oncogenes c-fos, c-fes and c-fms were undetectable in normal or M1 differentiation inducible (D+) leukemic myeloblasts, and were stably induced upon stimulation of the normal precursors for growth and differentiation, with highest levels at the time when most of the cells had undergone terminal differentiation. Only c-fes RNA was induced upon M1D+ differentiation. It was also shown to be induced upon induction of differentiation without growth in normal myeloid precursors. Using c-myc and c-myb RNA suppression as molecular markers for induction of M1D+ differentiation, the existence of myeloid differentiation factor(s), distinct from myeloid growth factors, has been demonstrated. Such differentiation inducing activity was found in media conditioned by mouse lungs or granulocytes, and was induced in normal myeloid precursors by the myelopoietic growth factors IL3, GM-CSF, G-CSF, and M-CSF. Taken together, the results of this study enhance and add to previous work to better correlate the expression of the proto-oncogenes myc, myb, fes, fos and fms with several parameters of normal and abnormal myeloid cell growth and differentiation. The results indicate that the normal myeloid growth to differentiation developmental cascade entails a mechanism whereby myeloid growth factors induce myeloid differentiation factors, subsequently suppressing c-myc and c-myb RNA expression, leading to the induction of differentiation and growth arrest, including early accumulation of c-fes RNA followed by accumulation of c-fos and c-fms RNAs. It was also indicated that this cascade is impaired in leukemia.

Suppression of c-myc and c-myb is tightly linked to terminal differentiation induced by IL6 or LIF and not growth inhibition in myeloid leukemia cells.

Cell proliferation and differentiation are intimately related processes where the proto-oncogenes c-myc and c-myb have been implicated to play a role. Previously, we have shown that both c-myc and c-myb were induced in normal myeloid precursors when the cells were stimulated for growth, were expressed in the autonomously proliferating myeloid leukemic M1 cell line and were rapidly suppressed in both normal and M1 cells following induction of terminal differentiation associated with growth arrest. In order to distinguish molecular events associated with terminal differentiation versus those due to growth inhibition, as well as to increase our understanding of the role of the proto-oncogenes c-myc and c-myb in both of these cellular processes, in this work we have studied the expression of c-myc and c-myb in M1 cells induced for growth inhibition associated with terminal differentiation (via treatment with the physiological inducers IL6 or leukemia inhibitory factor mean value of LIF), partial differentiation (using IL1 or LPS) or no detectable differentiation properties (using IFN beta or IFN gamma). We show that, for all the treatments used in this study, down regulation of the proto-oncogenes c-myc and c-myb occurred only when M1 cells were stimulated to undergo terminal differentiation. In addition, we transfected the M1 cell line with a vector containing the c-myc gene under control of the beta-actin promoter, so that c-myc was no longer down regulated by IL6 or LIF. Previously, we have shown that in the presence of the myeloid differentiation inducers IL6 or LIF, these M1myc cells were blocked at an intermediate stage of myeloid differentiation and continued to proliferate. In sharp contrast to their altered response to IL6 or LIF, M1myc cells were as responsive as the parental M1 cells to growth suppression by the different antiproliferative compounds which do not induce terminal differentiation. Thus, continued expression of c-myc had no effect on growth suppression induced by IL1, IFN beta, IFN gamma and LPS. Taken together, these results indicate that c-myc and c-myb down regulation is not necessary for growth suppression, but down regulation of c-myc is, and c-myb may be, essential for terminal differentiation.

MyD genes in negative growth control.

Two interrelated cellular processes are invoked simultaneously upon induction of differentiation, the regulated progression of cells through successive stages of cell differentiation and growth inhibition which ultimately leads to growth arrest. In tissues with rapid cell turnover terminally differentiated cells undergo programmed cell death. Terminal differentiation, thus, represents one form of negative growth control. It was surmised that the molecular engine which drives the differentiation process forward requires induction of positive regulators of terminal cell differentiation, to be found among differentiation primary response genes, as well as suppression of negative regulators, which correspond to genes which control cellular growth. This line of thought has prompted the isolation of myeloid differentiation primary response (MyD) genes activated in the absence of de novo protein synthesis, upon IL-6 induced terminal differentiation of murine M1 myeloblastic leukemia cells, where the cells growth arrest and ultimately undergo programmed cell death. As delineated in this review many of the genes identified as MyD genes, including both known genes [IRF-1, (AP-1)Fos/Jun.EGR-1] and novel ones (MyD88, MyD116, MyD118), turned out to play a role in negative growth control, including growth suppression and apoptosis, in many cell types, of both hematopoietic and non hematopoietic origins.

The proto-oncogene c-myc and apoptosis.

Deregulated expression of c-Myc not only promotes proliferation, but also can either induce or sensitize cells to apoptosis. Inappropriate expression of c-Myc under conditions which inhibit growth and down-regulate endogenous c-Myc expression, including serum deprivation and exposure to cytotoxic agents including the anticancer agents vinblastine, etoposide, Ara-C, and nocodazole, usually results in programmed cell death in many different cell types. Also, inappropriate Myc expression is associated with an apoptotic response elicited by induction of differentiation. The proapoptotic property of c-Myc requires an intact N-terminal transactivation domain and bHLHZip domain, as well as interaction with Max, thereby implicating c-Myc target genes in this apoptotic process. Although some target genes, namely cdc25A and ODC, have been shown to participate in Myc-mediated apoptosis, no target gene has yet been identified which is essential for this apoptotic response. It is possible that the response of cells inappropriately expressing c-Myc is due not only to the growth arrest signals per se, but also to signals elicited by specific growth inhibitors in the context of a particular biological setting. Also regulating the response of the cells is expression of other oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, as well as paracrine and autocrine survival factors. Apoptosis associated with inappropriate Myc expression limits the tumorigenic effect of the c-myc proto-oncogene. Mechanisms which inhibit apoptosis should enhance or promote tumorigenesis.

Cdc25A stability is controlled by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway during cell cycle progression and terminal differentiation.

Members of the cdc25 family are protein phosphatases that play pivotal roles in cell cycle progression. Cdc25A has been shown to be a critical regulator of the G1/S transition of mammalian cells and to be a myc-target gene with oncongenic properties. We investigated the regulation of cdc25A during terminal differentiation using myeloblastic leukemia M1 cells, that can be induced to undergo differentiation into macrophages by interleukin-6 (IL-6) treatment. In this report it is shown that cdc25A protein is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome machinery in both terminally differentiating and cycling cells. Cdc25A was found to have two major peaks of accumulation during cell cycle progression, one in G1 and the other in S/G2. Evidence was obtained that degradation of cdc25A by the ubiquitin-proteasome machinery in terminally differentiating myeloid cells is accelerated compared to cycling cells. Moreover, deregulated expression of c-myc in M1 cells, which had been previously shown to block terminal differentiation, was also found to block IL-6 induced degradation of cdc25A.

Molecular controls of growth arrest and apoptosis: p53-dependent and independent pathways.

Cell homeostasis is regulated by a balance between proliferation, growth arrest and programmed cell death (apoptosis). Until recently, studies on oncogenesis have focused on the regulation of cell proliferation. The recognition that negative growth control, including growth arrest and programmed cell death, must be understood to comprehend how appropriate cell numbers are maintained and how alterations in any part of the equation can contribute to malignancy has led to a burst of work in this field. This review focuses on what has been learned about distinct settings of negative growth control, analyzing p53-dependent and independent pathways of growth arrest and apoptosis either coupled or uncoupled from differentiation, with an emphasis on the use of hematopoietic cells. The importance of understanding the molecular biology of apoptotic and growth arrest pathways in cancer therapy, and future directions to study negative growth control are addressed as well.

p53-independent apoptosis associated with c-Myc-mediated block in myeloid cell differentiation.

Previously we have shown that deregulated expression of c-myc in M1 myeloid leukemic cells blocked IL-6-induced differentiation and its associated growth arrest; however, the cells proliferated at a significantly reduced rate compared to untreated cells. The basis for the increased doubling time of IL-6-treated M1myc cells was found to be due to the induction of a p53-independent apoptotic pathway. The apoptotic response was not completely penetrant; in the same population of cells both proliferation and apoptosis were continuously ongoing. Down-regulation of Bcl-2 was insufficient to account for the apoptotic response, since deregulated expression of Bcl-2 delayed, but did not block, the onset of apoptosis. Furthermore, our results indicated that the IL-6-induced partial hypophosphorylation of the retinoblastoma gene product (Rb), observed in M1myc cells, was not responsible for the apoptotic response. Finally, the findings in M1 cells were extended to myeloid cells derived from the bone marrow of wild type and p53-deficient mice, where the deregulated expression of c-myc was also shown to block terminal differentiation and induce apoptosis independent of p53. These findings provide new insights into how myc participates in the neoplastic process, and how additional mutations can promote more aggressive tumors. Oncogene (2000) 19, 2967 - 2977

Complexity of the immediate early response of myeloid cells to terminal differentiation and growth arrest includes ICAM-1, Jun-B and histone variants.

Differentiation inducible leukemic as well as normal myeloid precursors treated with physiological myeloid differentiation inducer have been used to explore the immediate early genetic response of cells to terminal differentiation and growth arrest stimuli. cDNA clones of 12 distinct genes, referred to as MyD genes, which are activated in the absence of protein synthesis following induction of myeloid differentiation and growth arrest have been isolated. Sequence analysis of both ends of MyD cDNA clones, and analysis of MyD gene expression following induced differentiation of M1D+ and normal myeloid precursors, has shown that the immediate early genetic response of myeloid cells to the induction of terminal differentiation is complex. This complex response involves a variety of genes, some of which are known and others unknown, including: transient induction of ICAM-1, a gene encoding for a ligand to a cell surface adhesion receptor; stable induction of Jun-B, a gene encoding for a nuclear transcription factor; and increased expression of histone genes which encode for terminal differentiation histone variants. These findings demonstrate that terminal differentiation and growth arrest immediate early response genes encode for at least three distinct types of gene products, which may play a role to reprogram the transcriptional activity of proliferating and non-differentiated cells towards their conversion into terminally differentiated nonproliferating cells.

Blocking c-Myc and Max expression inhibits proliferation and induces differentiation of normal and leukemic myeloid cells.

Given the central role c-Myc plays in growth control, differentiation and apoptosis, understanding how c-Myc functions will increase our understanding about normal cell development, and how alterations in these processes can lead to malignancy. C-Myc is a negative regulator of terminal myeloid differentiation; therefore, it was of interest to determine what effect blocking c-Myc expression would have on proliferation and differentiation. In this work we showed that blocking expression of either c-Myc or Max, its molecular partner, in myeloblastic leukemia M1 cells activated the differentiation program in the absence of an exogenous source of differentiation inducer; the cells assumed an intermediate stage myeloid morphology. Moreover, when both c-Myc and Max expression was concommitantly blocked, many of the cells underwent terminal differentiation. Finally, extending these studies to myeloblast enriched normal bone marrow (BM) cell has shown that blocking expression of either c-Myc or Max accelerated GM-CSF-induced differentiation along both the granulocytic and monocytic lineages. Thus, it can be concluded that blocking either c-Myc or Max expression in myeloid cells at specific stages of development activates and accelerates the terminal differentiation program.

Sequence and expression of a cDNA encoding MyD118: a novel myeloid differentiation primary response gene induced by multiple cytokines.

We report here the full length cDNA sequence and the deduced amino acid sequence of MyD118, a novel myeloid differentiation primary response gene transiently expressed in M1D+ myeloid precursors following induction of terminal differentiation and growth arrest by IL6. MyD118 expression was observed to be induced also in the absence of protein synthesis, following stimulation of M1D+ cells by IL1, LPS and Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF). Detectable levels of MyD118 RNA were observed in myeloid precursor enriched murine bone marrow, but not in several other nonmyeloid murine tissues.