Transformation of an interleukin 3-dependent hematopoietic cell line by the chronic myelogenous leukemia-specific P210bcr/abl protein.

The P210bcr/abl protein is associated with virtually every case of human chronic myelogenous leukemia. Unlike the related P160gag/v-abl oncogene product of Abelson murine leukemia virus, P210bcr/abl does not transform NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. To assess whether P210bcr/abl might transform hematopoietic cell types, retroviral constructs encoding P210bcr/abl were used to infect the bone marrow-derived interleukin 3-dependent Ba/F3 cell line. As for P160gag/v-abl, cell lines expressing P210bcr/abl were growth factor independent and tumorigenic in nude mice. No evidence for autocrine production of interleukin 3 by factor-independent cell lines was found. These experiments establish that P210bcr/abl can transform hematopoietic cell types to tumorigenicity.