Interleukin‐1α as an autocrine growth factor for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cells

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Abstract
Summary We describe a case of B‐lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) with proliferation of leukaemic cells through an interleukin‐1α (IL‐lα) autocrine mechanism. Flow cytometric analysis using the IL‐1 receptor type II (IL‐1Rt II) monoclonal antibody (mAb) demonstrated the expression of the IL‐1Rt II on leukaemic cells; this is the first report in IL‐1RtII‐positive freshly isolated ALL cells from a patient. In accordance with the expression of IL‐1RtII, the leukaemic cells proliferated in response to exogenous IL‐1α. In addition, anti‐IL‐1α mAb markedly inhibited the spontaneous cell proliferation. Furthermore, Northern blot analysis detected IL‐1α mRNA without any stimulation. These observations suggest that IL‐1α may play an important role as an autocrine growth factor in some cases of ALL.