Insulin receptor expression in burkitt lymphoma cell lines

✍ Scribed by Julie D. Newman; Leonard C. Harrison

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 927 KB
• Volume: 44
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.2910440315

✦ Synopsis

The specific binding of insulin to 7 different Burkitt lymphoma cell lines containing chromosomal translocations t(8;14), t(8;2) and t(8;22) was markedly decreased when compared to binding to lymphoblastoid cells of normal karyotype derived from Burkitt lymphoma patients or the human IM-9 lymphoblastoid line. The number of insulin-binding sites on intact Burkitt cells was decreased by >90% compared to lymphoblastoid cells, with no change in affinity. This decrease in binding was paralleled by reduced amounts of insulin receptor Q (M, 130,000) and p (M, 95,000) subunits detected by cellsurface-labelling and insulin receptor mRNA transcripts, indicating that transcription of receptor mRNA is decreased in Burkitt cells compared to lymphoblastoid cells and/or that receptor mRNA is less stable. Burkitt cells displayed negligible insulin-stimulated p subunit auto-phosphorylation, which could reflect either their decreased number of receptors or a defect in signal transduction. Structural analysis also revealed that the Burkitt cells had an increase in a precursor form (M, 21 0,000) of the receptor, suggesting that decreased expression of the receptor may be associated with defective processing. Four Burkitt cell lines with t(Rl4) also had reductions of 45-1 00% in expression of class-I major histocompatibility (MHC) antigens. The expression of insulin receptors in both Burkitt and lymphoblastoid cells correlated with the expression of class-I M H C antigens. There was also an inverse correlation between the expression of c-myc and both insulin receptors and class-I M H C antigens. As the insulin receptor is absent on resting B cells and is induced after cell activation, the decrease in receptor expression on Burkitt cells may reflect their less activated phenotype compared to lymphoblastoid cells.

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