CML-T1: a cell line derived from T-lymphocyte acute phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Most data suggest that malignant transformation in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) occurs in hematopoietic stem cell that is the progenitor of myelopoiesis and of B but not T lymphopoiesis. We established a T-lymphoid cell line (CML-T1) from a person with Ph-chromosome-negative CML in acute phase. Evidence of its T-lymphocyte origin includes the pattern cytochemical reactivity, reactivity with anti-T-cell monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), and rearrangement of the beta-T-cell receptor (TCRB) gene. CML-T1 cells have features of type IV thymocytes. Cytogenetic analyses indicate a 47,XX, del(11), t(6;7)(q23;q24), +mar karyotype. CML-T1 cells exhibit molecular changes typical of CML, including translocation of the ABL protooncogene from chromosome 9 to 22, rearrangement of the BCR gene, and transcription of a chimeric BCR-ABL messenger RNA (mRNA). The ABL insertion on chromosome 22 appears interstitial, similar to other cases of Ph-chromosome-negative CML. These data clearly indicate that T cells can be involved in acute-phase CML. CML-T1 should be useful in studying this process as well as that underlying Ph-chromosome-negative CML.