Detection of P210bcr-abl in mature granulocytes from Ph1-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia patients by an immunoblotting method.

Previously, p210bcr-abl has been detected in Philadelphia-chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) blast crisis and established cells originating from blasts. It has not been detected in mature granulocytes in the chronic phase. Protein degradation tends to occur during protein extraction, due to the activities of protease and phosphatase within these cells. Protein was, therefore, extracted in a cell lysis buffer containing alpha 1-antitrypsin and a high concentration of Na3VO4 as inhibitors. In mature granulocytes in the chronic phase, p210bcr-abl was detected and the level of tyrosine phosphorylation estimated by immunoblotting, using the enzyme-labeled antibody method with anti-c-abl and anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. p210bcr-abl was phosphorylated on tyrosine residues in blast crisis cells and K562 cells derived from CML blast crisis, whereas it was dephosphorylated in mature granulocytes from chronic phase CML patients. This suggests that p210bcr-abl in mature granulocytes has no tyrosine kinase activity, or it is extremely weak, and dephosphorylation of p210bcr-abl is associated with differential maturation of immature cells in the chronic phase of CML.