The hematopoietic transcription factor PU.1 is downregulated in human multiple myeloma cell lines. 
PU.1 is a hematopoietic transcription factor belonging to the Ets-family. It is identical to the Spi-1 oncogene, which is implicated in spleen focus-forming virus-induced murine erythroleukemias. PU.1 seems to be required for early development of multiple hematopoietic lineages, but its expression in mature cells is preferentially observed in cells of the B-cell-and monocyte/macrophage-differentiation lineage. It binds the so-called Pu box, an important tissue-specific regulatory DNA element present in a number of genes expressed in these cell lineages. We have analyzed the expression and activity of PU.1 during human B-cell development using a panel of B-cell lines representing different stages of maturation, from early precursors to differentiated plasma cells. PU.1 mRNA expression and PU.1 DNA binding activity, as measured by Northern blot analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assay, respectively, were evident in cell lines representing pro-B, pre-B, and mature B cells. We could also show Pu box-dependent transactivation of a reporter gene in transient transfections in these cell lines. In contrast, in a number of multiple myeloma cell lines, representing differentiated, plasma cell-like B cells, PU.1 DNA binding activity, mRNA expression, and Pu box-dependent transactivation were absent or detectable at a very low level. In lymphoblastoid cell lines, which exemplify an intermediate stage of B-cell differentiation, a reduced expression and activity were observed. The findings in the human multiple myeloma cell lines represent the first examples of B cells with downregulated PU.1 expression and apparently contradict observations in the murine system in which PU.1 is expressed and active in plasmacytoma cell lines. At present, it is unclear whether the lack of PU.1 expression and activity in human multiple myeloma cell lines represents a malignancy-associated defect in these cells or exemplifies a normal developmental regulation in terminally differentiated B cells.