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Blood, 1 March 2004, Vol. 103, No. 5, pp. 1891-1900. Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on November 13, 2003; DOI 10.1182/blood-2002-12-3861.
NEOPLASIA IL-7dependent human leukemia T-cell line as a valuable tool for drug discovery in T-ALLFrom the Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and the Unit of Tumor Biology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Lisbon Medical School, Lisbon, Portugal.
The specific targeting of critical signaling molecules may provide efficient therapies for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). However, target identification and drug development are limited by insufficient numbers of primary T-ALL cells and by their high rate of spontaneous apoptosis. We established a human interleukin-7 (IL-7)dependent T-ALL cell line, TAIL7, that maintains several biologic and signaling properties of its parental leukemia cells. TAIL7 cells are preT-ALL cells that proliferate in response to IL-7 and IL-4. IL-7 stimulation of TAIL7 cells prevents spontaneous in vitro apoptosis and induces cell activation and cell cycle progression. The signaling events triggered by IL-7 include down-regulation of p27kip1 and hyperphosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (Rb). Stimulation of TAIL7 cells by IL-7 leads to phosphorylation of Janus kinase 3 (JAK3), signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5), Akt/PKB (protein kinase B), and extracellular-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (Erk1/2). Importantly, specific blockade of JAK3 by its inhibitor WHI-P131 abrogates the IL-7mediated proliferation and survival of TAIL7 cells, suggesting that activation of JAK3 is critical for IL-7 responsiveness by these cells. Because TAIL7 cells seem to be a biologic surrogate for primary leukemia T cells, this cell line constitutes a valuable tool for the study of the signaling pathways implicated in T-ALL. Exploitation of this cell line should allow the identification of molecular targets and promote the rational design and validation of antileukemia signaling inhibitors.
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