Publication Date:
2010-06-03
Description:
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a malignant disease of mature B lymphocytes. We have previously shown that a characteristic feature of CLL cells are high levels of expression and activity of protein kinase CβII (PKCβII), and that this might influence disease progression by modulating signaling in response to B-cell receptor engagement. The aim of the present work was to investigate the factors involved in stimulating PKCβII expression in CLL cells. Here we show that the activation of PKCβII in CLL cells stimulated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) can drive expression of the gene for PKCβ, PRKCB1. We found that this effect of VEGF on PRKCB1 transcription is paralleled by high expression of PKCβII protein and therefore probably contributes to the malignant phenotype of CLL cells. Taken together, the data presented in this study demonstrate that VEGF, in addition to its role in providing prosurvival signals, also plays a role in overexpression of PKCβII, an enzyme with a specific pathophysiologic role in CLL.
Print ISSN:
0006-4971
Electronic ISSN:
1528-0020
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Permalink