Role of Defective Oct-2 and OCA-B Expression in Immunoglobulin Production and Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Lytic Reactivation in Primary Effusion Lymphoma▿

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is a distinct type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma characterized by the presence of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV/human herpesvirus 8). Despite having a genotype and gene expression signature of highly differentiated B cells, PEL does not usually express surface or cytoplasmic immunoglobulin (Ig). We show the lack of Oct-2 and OCA-B transcription factors to be responsible, at least in part, for this defect in Ig production. Like Ig genes, ORF50, the key regulator of the switch from latency to lytic reactivation, contains an octamer motif within its promoter. We therefore examined the impact of Oct-2 and OCA-B on ORF50 activation. The binding of Oct-1 to the ORF50 promoter has been shown to significantly enhance ORF50 transactivation. We found that Oct-2, on the other hand, inhibited ORF50 expression and consequently lytic reactivation by competing with Oct-1 for the octamer motif in the ORF50 promoter. Our data suggest that Oct-2 downregulation in infected cells would be favorable to KSHV in allowing for efficient viral reactivation

Hodgkin lymphoma cells express TACI and BCMA receptors and generate survival and proliferation signals in response to BAFF and APRIL

Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) originates from the clonal expansion of malignant Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells. These B-cell–derived elements constitute less than 10% of the tumoral mass. The remaining tissue is comprised of an inflammatory infiltrate that includes myeloid cells. Myeloid cells activate B cells by producing BAFF and APRIL, which engage TACI, BCMA, and BAFF-R receptors on the B cells. Here, we studied the role of BAFF and APRIL in HL. Inflammatory and HRS cells from HL tumors expressed BAFF and APRIL. Unlike their putative germinal center B-cell precursors, HRS cells lacked BAFF-R, but expressed TACI and BCMA, a phenotype similar to that of plasmacytoid B cells. BAFF and APRIL enhanced HRS cell survival and proliferation by delivering nonredundant signals via TACI and BCMA receptors through both autocrine and paracrine pathways. These signals caused NF-κB activation; Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and c-Myc up-regulation; and Bax down-regulation, and were amplified by APRIL-binding proteoglycans on HRS cells. Interruption of BAFF and APRIL signaling by TACI-Ig decoy receptor, which binds to and neutralizes BAFF and APRIL, or by small-interfering RNAs targeting BAFF, APRIL, TACI, and BCMA inhibited HRS cell accumulation in vitro and might attenuate HL expansion in vivo