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MA el-Farrash, HA Salem, MJ Kuroda, K Morizono, M Kannagi and S Harada
Department of Biodefense and Medical Virology, Kumamoto University School
of Medicine, Japan.
Mycosis fungoides (MF) is a rare form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma that may
be associated with human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) infection.
Using the polymerase chain reaction, the HTLV-I pX region was constantly
detected in the genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear
cells (PBMCs) of an HTLV-I antibody-seronegative Egyptian MF patient
enrolled in a study to isolate HTLV-I from North Africa. A CD4+ and
interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor-positive T-cell line was established when the
phytohemagglutinin-stimulated PBMCs of that patient were maintained in
IL-2-containing culture medium. The cell line (EMF) was initially IL-2
dependent and then became IL-2 independent after gradual withdrawal of the
IL-2. The cells reacted positively with monoclonal antibodies specific for
the HTLV-I Env or HTLV-I Gag proteins. Using the Southern blot analysis,
HTLV-I provirus could be detected in the genomic DNA extracted from the EMF
cells. Limited nucleotide sequence of the env region showed more than 95%
homology between the EMF provirus and other known HTLV-I isolates. Western
blot analysis of the cell lysates showed the expression of the HTLV-I
structural proteins. These data imply that a transforming HTLV-I provirus
may be present, at least in certain cases of MF, regardless of the presence
or absence of the specific antibodies.
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| Copyright © 1995 by American Society of Hematology Online ISSN: 1528-0020 | |||||||||