HTLV-1 and Tax induce caveolin-1 expression. (A) Expression of HTLV-1 Tax and caveolin-1 during HTLV-1 infection of normal PBMCs, TY8-3, and A549. Normal PBMCs, TY8-3, and A549 were cocultured with or without MMC-treated MT-2 cells. After cocultivation, cells were harvested, and the expression of the indicated genes was analyzed by RT-PCR. β-Actin mRNA was used as a control. (B) Induction of caveolin-1 by Tax. JPX-9 cells were treated with 20μM CdCl2 for the indicated time periods. RT-PCR was carried out for caveolin-1, caveolin-2, Tax, IL-2Rα, and β-actin (loading control). Western blot analysis was also performed for caveolin-1, Tax, and actin (loading control). (C) RT-PCR analysis for expression of caveolin-1 and Tax in PBMC samples from a patient with ATL (ATL 14) without or with 24 to 72 hours of culture. Representative results of 3 separate experiments with similar findings.
