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A Single 3.7-Kilobase Messenger RNA Hybridizes to Immediate-Early Promoter-Enhancer of Human Cytomegalovirus in HL-60 and Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells¹

Department of Biochemistry, Chang Gung Medical College, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan, Republic of China

Expression of a mRNA cross-hybridized to human cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene promoter-enhancer was detected in the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60. The 0.6 kilobase of NruI/SacI DNA fragment of eukaryotic expression vector pCDM8 representing human cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene promoter-enhancer was used as the probe to hybridize with polyadenylated RNA by the Northern blot analysis. A 3.7-kilobase strand of polyadenylated RNA was visualized in the cytoplasmic fraction of HL-60 promyelocytes. In contrast, other human hematopoietic cell lines, hepatoma cells, and normal human fibroblasts did not show such a transcript by cross-hybridization. This transcript was called CMVE RNA. The expression of CMVE mRNA was also detectable in the fresh blast cells from patients with acute myeloid leukemia, and particularly from a patient with acute myeloid leukemia of the M3 type. Taken together, these findings suggest that the CMVE RNA-encoded gene plays an important role in the pathogenesis of acute promyelocytic leukemia.

¹ This research was supported by Grant CMRP 262 from Chang Gung Medical College and Grant NSC 79-0412-B182-49 from the National Science Council in Taiwan.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed.

Received 6/10/91. Accepted 7/16/91.