Constitutively Activated Jak-STAT Pathway in T Cells Transformed with HTLV-I

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1995-07, Vol.269 (5220), p.79-81
• Main Authors: Migone, Thi-Sau, Lin, Jian-Xin, Cereseto, Anna, Mulloy, James C., O'Shea, John J., Franchini, Genoveffa, Leonard, Warren J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AIDS/HIV; Antiserum; B lymphocytes; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cell growth; Cell Line, Transformed; Cell lines; Cell Transformation, Viral; Cells; Cells, Cultured; Cellular biology; Cellular immunity; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Enzyme Activation; Fetal Blood - cytology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; HTLV-I (Virus); Human T lymphotropic virus 1; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - physiology; Humans; Interleukin-2 - pharmacology; Janus Kinase 1; Janus Kinase 3; Leukemia research; Medical research; Microbiology; Milk Proteins; Molecular Sequence Data; Phosphorylation; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - metabolism; Proteins; Receptors; Receptors, Interleukin-2 - metabolism; Replicative cycle, interference, host-virus relations, pathogenicity, miscellaneous strains; Signal Transduction; STAT3 Transcription Factor; STAT5 Transcription Factor; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; T-Lymphocytes - virology; Trans-Activators - metabolism; Transformed cell line; Virology; Viruses
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.7604283

Human T cell lymphotropic virus I (HTLV-I) is the etiological agent for adult T cell leukemia and tropical spastic paraparesis (also termed HTLV-I-associated myelopathy). HTLV-I-infected peripheral blood T cells exhibit an initial phase of interleukin-2 (IL-2)-dependent growth; over time, by an unknown mechanism, the cells become IL-2-independent. Whereas the Jak kinases Jak1 and Jak3 and the signal transducer and activator of transcription proteins Stat3 and Stat5 are activated in normal T cells in response to IL-2, this signaling pathway was constitutively activated in HTLV-I-transformed cells. In HTLV-I-infected cord blood lymphocytes, the transition from IL-2-dependent to IL-2-independent growth correlated with the acquisition of a constitutively activated Jak-STAT pathway, which suggests that this pathway participates in HTLV-I-mediated T cell transformation.