c-Jun and GST-pi expression in human plasma cells.

Bone marrow samples from 33 patients affected by MM and MGUS, and 8 patients not affected by lymphoproliferative diseases were studied for expression of c-Jun (a component of the transcription factor AP-1) and glutathione-S-transferase pi (GST-pi) using immunocytochemical methods. A high and frequent expression of these two proteins was found both in MM and MGUS patients (31/33 patients positive for c-Jun and 29/33 patients positive for GST-pi) and in controls not affected by monoclonal gammopathy (7/8 patients positive for both c-Jun and GST-pi). No statistically significant correlation was found between c-Jun- and GST-pi-positive plasma cells. The expression of these two proteins was not related to clinical or laboratory data. Our results seem to confirm a possible role of the transcriptional complex AP-1 in activating GST-pi promoter in human plasma cells.