ganglioside--gd2 and Leukemia--Erythroblastic--Acute

Ganglioside expression on cytotoxic T lymphocytes induced against the mouse erythroleukaemia line FBL-3N, was analysed, compared with that of naive T lymphocytes in the thymus, lymph nodes and spleen. Although normal uncultured and cultured T lymphocytes expressed no GD2, GD3 or GM2 gangliosides, cytotoxic T cells with CD4+CD8-, CD4-CD8+, and CD4-CD8- phenotypes reacted with anti-GD2 monoclonal antibody with various intensities. The reactivity with anti-GD2 was associated with the intensity of cytotoxic activity as analysed using cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones established from the bulk CTLs of each phenotype. An increase of the mRNA expression of GM2/GD2 synthase gene was demonstrated by Northern blot hybridization using RNA extracted from thymocytes, spleen cells, Con A-treated spleen cells and various types of CTL cells. These results indicated that GD2 ganglioside expression might be associated with the functional differentiation of murine T lymphocytes.

Topics: Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Blotting, Northern; Concanavalin A; Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; Female; Flow Cytometry; G(M2) Ganglioside; Gangliosides; Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases; Polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Up-Regulation