PAX5/TEL Causes down Regulation of CD19 and TGFbeta Resistance in PreBI Cells.

The PAX5/TEL chimeric gene was cloned from the translocation t(9;12)(q11;p13) in an ALL patient. Recent data indicate that the PAX5/TEL fusion defines the cytogenetic entity dic(9;12)(p13;p13), which accounts for about 1% of childhood ALL, almost exclusively B-progenitor ALL.

PAX5/TEL is likely to be an aberrant transcription factor, resulting from joining the 5′ region of PAX5 (a transcription factor essential for B cell development) to the 3′ region of TEL/ETV6, containing the Ets-family DNA binding domain.

We have cloned the FLAG-full length chimeric PAX5/TEL cDNA in the retroviral vector pMSCV-IRES-GFP (MigR1) to transduce target cells. We have demonstrated a specific nuclear localization of the chimeric protein in NIH3T3 by immunofluorescence analysis. Moreover, we observed a PAX5/TEL dependent decrease of the cellular growth rate in IL-3 dependent murine proB Ba/F3 cells. We further investigated the function of the PAX5/TEL chimeric protein as a potential oncoprotein in murine preBI cells, as a more physiological model.

Murine PAX5 ^−/− preBI cells and wild type preBI cells were purified as B220+/c-KIT+ cells from mouse fetal liver and they were cultured on OP9 and DL1-OP9 stroma cells in presence of IL-7. The OP9 stroma supports B cell proliferation and survival; the DL1-OP9 stroma expresses Delta-like1, one of the Notch ligands, and it’s important to support T cell development. Both PAX5 ^−/− preBI cells and wild type preBI cells were transduced with the retroviral construct pMSCV-PAX5/TEL-IRES-GFP to analyze cell proliferation, differentiation and growth-dependence on IL-7. Wild type preBI cells expressing PAX5/TEL showed down modulation of CD19 when cultured on OP9 stroma in presence of IL-7; an inverse correlation was observed between the levels of expression of GFP and of CD19. The down modulation of CD19 can be involved in driving the preBI cell into differentiation block. A possible explanation of CD19 repression can rely on a potential competition between PAX5/TEL and endogenous PAX5 to bind PAX5 consensus region on DNA.

On OP9 stroma, PAX5/TEL preBI cells are resistant to TGFbeta anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects, with a three-fold increased growth rate than control cells. Although the specific mechanism of PAX5/TEL disruption of TGFbeta signalling pathway remains to be investigated, we propose the TGFbeta resistance by PAX5/TEL as a way to evade the immunosurveillance. PAX5/TEL-preBI cells cultured on DL1-OP9 showed a different phenotype, with up-regulation of c-KIT and down-regulation of CD44.

PAX5−/− preBI cells infected with PAX5TEL and grown on OP9 were CD19 negative even in the presence of PAX5TEL. On DL1-OP9 stroma, PAX5TEL cells were able to differentiate maintaining the developmental plasticity of PAX5 −/− preBI cells. These preliminary results indicate a role of PAX5/TEL as a transcription factor, potentially with a suppressor function, down regulating CD19 expression, thus suggesting a function on B cell differentiation. The chimera is able to interfere with TGFbeta pathway, inducing resistance and conferring an advantage in cell survival, evading the immunosurveillance.

PAX5TEL do not replace PAX5 functions in PAX5−/− cells, it cannot activate PAX5 target genes as CD19, important for restoring B cell differentiation.

Further analyeis are needed to better evaluate the role of PAX5/TEL protein, both in vivo and in vitro models.