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Autocrine generation and requirement of BSF-2/IL-6 for human multiple myelomas

Nature volume 332, pages 83–85 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

Human B cell stimulatory factor 2 (BSF-2) was originally charac-terized and isolated as a T cell-derived factor that caused the terminal maturation of activated B cells to immunoglobulin-producing cells1,2. Molecular cloning of the complementary DNA predicts that BSF-2 is a protein of relative molecular mass (Mr) 26,000 similar or identical to interferon β2, hybridoma plasmacytoma growth factor and hepatocyte stimulating factor3–7. IL-6 has been proposed as a name for this molecule8,9. It is now known that BSF-2 has a wide variety of biological functions and that its target cells are not restricted to normal B cells1,10. Responses are also seen in T cells11,12, plasmacytomas6, hepatocytes7,13, haematopoietic stem cells14, fibroblasts15 and rat phoeochromocytoma, PC 12 (Satoh, T. et al., manuscript in preparation). Of particular interest to this report is that human BSF-2 is a potent growth factor for murine plasmacytomas and hybridomas6,8,10. This observation suggested to us that constitutive expression of BSF-2 or its receptor could be responsible for the generation of human myelomas. In this study we report that myeloma cells freshly isolated from patients produce BSF-2 and express its receptors. Moreover, anti-BSF-2 antibody inhibits the in vitro growth of myeloma cells. This is direct evidence that an autocrine loop is operating in oncogenesis of human myelomas.

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Author notes

  1. Toshio Hirano, Tadashi Matsuda, Tetsuya Taga, Yasuhiro Horii and Bo Tang: Division of Immunology, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamada-Oka, Suita 565 Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Research Institute for Nuclear Medicine and Biology, Hiroshima University, Kasumi 1-2-3, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 735, Japan

    Michio Kawano, Toshio Hirano, Tadashi Matsuda, Tetsuya Taga, Yasuhiro Horii, Koji Iwato, Hideki Asaoku, Bo Tang, Osamu Tanabe, Hideo Tanaka, Atsushi Kuramoto & Tadamitsu Kishimoto

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  1. Michio Kawano
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  2. Toshio Hirano
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  3. Tadashi Matsuda
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  4. Tetsuya Taga
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  5. Yasuhiro Horii
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  6. Koji Iwato
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  7. Hideki Asaoku
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  8. Bo Tang
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  9. Osamu Tanabe
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  10. Hideo Tanaka
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  11. Atsushi Kuramoto
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  12. Tadamitsu Kishimoto
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Kawano, M., Hirano, T., Matsuda, T. et al. Autocrine generation and requirement of BSF-2/IL-6 for human multiple myelomas. Nature 332, 83–85 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/332083a0

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