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GR McLean, EV Quadros, SP Rothenberg, AC Morgan, JW Schrader and HJ Ziltener
Biomedical Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
Canada.
The plasma protein transcobalamin II (TCII) binds and delivers cobalamin
(Cbl; vitamin B12) to all cells, which internalize the TCII/Cbl complex by
receptor-mediated endocytosis. Congenital deficiency of TCII results in
intracellular Cbl deficiency, one effect of which is to disrupt DNA
synthesis, leading to megaloblastic anemia. We report here an in vitro
culture system in which cell growth is dependent on delivery of Cbl to
cells by TCII. Recombinant human holo- TCII was shown to support in
dose-dependent manner the growth of the human erythroleukemic cell line
K562 and the murine lymphoma cell line BW5147. Free Cbl also supported cell
growth; however, at 100- to 1,000- fold higher concentrations than those
effective in the presence of apo- TCII. To determine if cellular depletion
of Cbl could be achieved by interfering with interactions between TCII/Cbl
and its cell-surface receptor, several monoclonal antibodies raised against
human TCII were studied. Three antibodies, found to compete for the same
binding site on TCII, proved to be effective inhibitors of
TCII/Cbl-dependent cell growth. Our results suggest that monoclonal
anti-TCII antibodies that block the function of this protein may prove
useful in antitumor therapies.
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| Copyright © 1997 by American Society of Hematology Online ISSN: 1528-0020 | |||||||||