Enhancement of antigen-presenting ability of B lymphoma cells by partial inhibition of protein synthesis through inducing B7-1 expression

During the investigation of the role of protein synthesis in antigen-presenting cell (APC) function of A20-HL B lymphoma cells, we found that partial inhibition of protein synthesis enhanced their APC function. The treatment of A20-HL cells with 0.313-2.5 mu M emetine, an irreversible inhibitor of protein synthesis, decreased protein synthesis by 60-70%, and enhanced their APC function to stimulate I-A(d)/OVA(323-339)-specific T cells to produce interleukin-2 in response to ovalbumin (OVA). The emetine-treated and paraformaldehyde-fixed A20-HL cells required only 20 nM OVA(323-339) peptide to stimulate the T cells, whereas those untreated and fixed required 200 nM peptide. This enhancement of APC function was mostly because of the induction of B7-1 expression on AZO-HL cells by the emetine treatment, sines B7-1 molecules were detected on the emetine-treated A20-HL cells, but only negligibly, if at all, on the untreated cells, and an anti-B7-1 monoclonal antibody, 1G10, inhibited the enhanced APC function of the emetine-treated A20-HL cells. The emetine-treatment also increased B7-1 mRNA expression in A20-HL cells, suggesting that the induction of B7-1 expression was due to the increase in the accumulation of mRNA and the translation with residual ability to synthesize protein. Thus, partial inhibition of protein synthesis in A20-HL cells increases B7-1 mRNA accumulation and its expression on the cell surface, which results in the enhancement of their APC function.