The Expression of Bcl-x Is Downregulated During Differentiation of Human Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells Along the Granulocyte But Not the Monocyte/Macrophage Lineage

Abstract

Abstract Expression of the apoptosis inhibitory protein Bcl-x was studied in CD34+ hematopoietic precursor cells and in the promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60. The enriched population of CD34+ cells (more than 95%) was cultured in the presence of stem cell factor, interleukin-3 (IL-3), IL-6, and either granulocyte colony-stimulating factor or macrophage colony-stimulating factor to achieve granulocyte or monocyte/macrophage differentiation, respectively. The expression of Bcl-x increased in the early stages of both differentiation pathways. However, by day 21 of culture mature granulocytes were Bcl-x–negative, whereas monocytes/macrophages either maintained or increased the expression of Bcl-x. The pattern of Bcl-x expression in the differentiated CD34+ cells was similar to that observed in HL-60 cells differentiated along the granulocyte lineage (induced by incubation with retinoic acid), or along the monocyte/macrophage lineage (induced by incubation with phorbol diester). The bcl-x transcript predominant in HL-60 and CD34+ cells differentiated into monocytes/macrophages was bcl-xL . Although little is yet known regarding the functional significance of Bcl-x within the granulomonocytic compartment, marked changes in the pattern of its expression, as observed during granulomonocytic differentiation of HL-60 and CD34+ cells, are likely to alter the life span of mature granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages.