Anti-apoptotic role of Bfl-1 in staurosporine-treated B-lymphoblastic cells

To examine the relationship between the expression level of Bfl-1 and the s usceptibility to staurusporine-induced apoptosis in B-lymphoblastic cells, we tested cell survival in 4 cell lines: 2 that are Bfl-1-nonexpressing (Re h and JM-1) and 2 that are Bfl-1-expressing (IM-9 and Wil2-NS). Reh and JM- 1 showed apoptosis levels of 62% (Reh) and 30% (JM-1) as early as 3 hours a fter treatment with staurosporine, whereas IM-9 and Wil2-NS showed apoptosi s levels of only 40% and 26%, respectively, even after 1 day of treatment w ith staurosporine. Either induced expression of Bfl-1 with 12-o-tetradecano yl phorbol-13-acetate or exogenous expression of Bfl-1 by transfection in R eh cells promoted cell survival. These results suggest that expression of B fl-1 contributes to regulating apoptosis in the B-cell lines we examined. I nt J Hematol 2000;72:484-490. (C)2000 The Japanese Society of Hematology.