Novel expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors in human B-cell precursors

Objective. Eukaryotic cell division is regulated by cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK), and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKI). Genes encoding these proteins are mutated or deleted in many types of cancer. For example, 20%-30% of B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) have deletions in the CKI known as INK4a. The contribution of INK4a deletions to the progression of B-lineage ALL is uncertain, partially due to a paucity of data on expression in normal B-cell precursors. We therefore conducted a comparative analysis of normal and leukemic human B-cell development for the expression of cyclins, CDK, and CKI. Materials and Methods. Specific stages of human B-cell development from normal bone marrow were purified by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. The sorted populations and B-lineage ALL cell lines (BLIN-1, 2, 3, 4) were examined for expression of cyclins, CDK, and CKI by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. Results. RT-PCR analysis showed that cyclin D2, cyclin D3, CDK4, and CDK6 were ubiquitously expressed in normal B-cell development and in the BLIN ALL cell lines. The p19^INK4d CKI was the most commonly expressed member of the INK4 family, whereas p16^INK4a was more weakly and variably expressed. Expression of the p57^KIP2 CKI varied as a function of the stage of B-cell development. Analysis of normal B-cell precursors by Western blotting indicated that CDK4, CDK6, p19^INK4d, and p57^KIP2 were expressed, whereas p16^INK4a was not detected. Conclusion. Cyclin D/CDK expression in normal and leukemic human B-cell precursors is similar to expression of these proteins in human and murine mature B cells. In contrast, the ubiquitous expression of p19^INK4d has not been previously described in human or murine B-lineage cells. Our results suggest that loss of INK4a may only minimally contribute to tumor cell progression in B-lineage ALL, since expression of INK4d could provide a compensatory function as a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor.