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Bfl‐1 is a crucial pro‐survival nuclear factor‐κB target gene in Hodgkin/Reed‐Sternberg cells

Hodgkin/Reed‐Sternberg (H/RS) cells are believed to represent clonal progeny of Germinal Centre B cells that have escaped negative selection by evading apoptosis. Aberrant constitutive activity of the transcription factor NF‐κB plays a key role in the pathogenesis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL), conferring a survival advantage on H/RS cells. Bfl‐1 is a pro‐survival NF‐κB target gene from the Bcl‐2 family of apoptosis‐regulating proteins. Here, we report that bfl‐1 (also known as A1 or GRS) is frequently expressed in primary H/RS cells from HL tumor biopsies and that elevated bfl‐1 expression is a feature of H/RS derived cell lines. We show that bfl‐1 is an NF‐κB target gene in this cell context and that this regulation is effected through a p65‐binding DNA element located in its promoter. We demonstrate that ectopic Bfl‐1 can rescue cultured H/RS cells from apoptosis induced by pharmacological inhibitors of NF‐κB, and that knockdown of bfl‐1 potentiates the pro‐apoptotic effect of these agents. These findings are the first indication that Bfl‐1 plays a crucial role in setting the elevated threshold of resistance of this malignant cell type to apoptosis.