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Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2001, p. 5577-5590, Vol. 21, No. 16
Department of Molecular and Experimental
Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California
92037,1 and Harvard Institutes of
Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
021152
Received 20 November 2000/Returned for modification 8 January
2001/Accepted 7 May 2001
The fusion gene AML1-ETO is the
product of t(8;21)(q22;q22), one of the most common chromosomal
translocations associated with acute myeloid leukemia. To
investigate the impact of AML1-ETO on hematopoiesis,
tetracycline-inducible AML1-ETO-expressing cell lines
were generated using myeloid cells. AML1-ETO is tightly and strongly
induced upon tetracycline withdrawal. The proliferation of
AML1-ETO+ cells was markedly reduced, and most of the cells
eventually underwent apoptosis. RNase protection assays revealed that
the amount of Bcl-2 mRNA was decreased after AML1-ETO induction.
Enforced expression of Bcl-2 was able to significantly delay, but not
completely overcome, AML1-ETO-induced apoptosis. Prior
to the onset of apoptosis, we also studied the ability of AML1-ETO to
modulate differentiation. AML1-ETO expression altered granulocytic
differentiation of U937T-A/E cells. More significantly, this change of
differentiation was associated with the down-regulation of
CCAAT/enhancer binding protein
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.16.5577-5590.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Dichotomy of AML1-ETO Functions: Growth Arrest
versus Block of Differentiation

(C/EBP
), a key regulator of
granulocytic differentiation. These observations suggest a dichotomy in
the functions of AML1-ETO: (i) reduction of granulocytic
differentiation correlated with decreased expression of
C/EBP
and (ii) growth arrest leading to apoptosis with
decreased expression of CDK4, c-myc, and
Bcl-2. We predict that the preleukemic
AML1-ETO+ cells must overcome
AML1-ETO-induced growth arrest and apoptosis prior to
fulfilling their leukemogenic potential.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: MEM-L51, The
Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, CA 92037. Phone: (858) 784-9581. Fax: (858) 784-9593. E-mail:
dzhang{at}Scripps.edu.
Paper 13690-MEM from The Scripps Research Institute.
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