A NOVEL HUMAN B-CELL LINE (U-2904) BEARING T(8-14) AND T(14-18) TRANSLOCATIONS

Sequential activation of bcl-2 and c-myc appears to be involved in the pathogenesis of rare de novo acute lymphoid leukemias bearing both t( 8;14) and t(14;18). Acquisition of t(8;14) by follicular-lymphoma cell s with t(14;18) has also been related to the clinical transformation i nto an overt acute lymphoid leukemia in rare cases reported, and a rol e for c-myc involvement in the progression of some follicular lymphoma s with t(14;18) has been suggested by the detection of c-myc rearrange ments in association with histologic transformation. However, c-myc ab normalities different from those observed in Burkitt's lymphoma have b een reported in diffuse large-cell lymphomas with breakpoints in 8q24, and a t(8;14) molecularly different from the classical one has been f ound in follicular lymphomas without t(14;18). We report the prelimina ry characterization of the EBV-negative cell line U 2904 established f rom a transformed follicular lymphoma that carries both t(8;14) (q24;q 32) and t(14;18) (q32;q21) translocations. U 2904 cells have a mature B-cell phenotype, grow in agarose and are tumorigenic in nude mice. Re arrangements of both c-myc and bcl-2 confirmed the involvement of both oncogenes in the translocations which lead to abundant c-myc and bcl- 2 transcripts. Two JH rearrangements and one C alpha rearrangement wer e observed which did not co-migrate with either c-myc or bcl-2 rearran gements. This is the first report of a cell line bearing both t(8;14) and t(14;18) derived from a follicular lymphoma after documented trans formation into a centroblastic lymphoma without leukemic features. U 2 904 provides further evidence for the involvement of c-myc in the prog ression of follicular lymphomas. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.