Up-regulation of c-fos expression is a component of the mIg signal transduction mechanism but is not indicative of competence for proliferation

Control of entry into and progression through the early phases of cell cycle in B lymphocytes is poorly understood at the molecular level. Products of the c-fos proto-oncogene have been implicated in regulation of G0 to G1 cell cycle phase transition and cell proliferation in other systems. In view of these observations, the relationship between signals generated through receptor Ig which alter the B cells position in cell cycle and relative level of c-fos expression was investigated. Not unexpectantly, anti-Ig under conditions which promote G0-G1 and G1-S phase transition was observed to selectively up-regulate expression of c-fos. More interestingly, however, anti-Ig-induced cross-linking of surface Ig on the WEHI-231 B lymphoma also caused rapid and transient up-regulation of c-fos mRNA levels although it was associated with inhibition of proliferation of these cells. These results are important because they show that 1) c-fos expression is inducible in both normal and transformed B lymphocytes as a consequence of signals generated through receptor Ig, and 2) up-regulation of c-fos expression is not positively linked to B cell proliferation but rather appears to be a component of the surface Ig signal transduction mechanism. Finally, studies utilizing phorbol diesters suggest that pathways leading through protein kinase C are involved in both the growth inhibition and c-fos expression WEHI-231 following membrane-associated Ig cross-linking.