Receptors for B cell stimulatory factor 2. Quantitation, specificity, distribution, and regulation of their expression

B cell stimulatory factor 2 receptors (BSF-2-R) were studied using radioiodinated recombinant BSF-2 with a specific activity of 6.16 X 10(13) cpm/g. Kinetic studies showed that binding of 125I-BSF-2 to CESS cells reached maximum level within 150 min at 0 degrees C. There was a single class of receptors with high affinity (Kd 3.4 X 10(-10) M) on CESS, and the number of receptors was 2,700 per cell. Binding of 125I-BSF-2 to CESS was competitively inhibited by unlabeled BSF-2 but not by IL-1, IL-2, IFN-beta, IFN-gamma, and G-CSF, indicating the presence of the receptors specific for BSF-2. EBV-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell lines (CESS, SKW6-CL4, LCL13, and LCL14) expressed BSF-2-R, whereas Burkitt's lines did not. EBV or EBNA2 did not induce the expression of the receptors on Burkitt's cells. The plasma cell lines (ARH-77 and U266) expressed BSF-2-R, fitting the function of BSF-2 as plasma cell growth factor. Several other cell lines, the histiocytic line U937, the promyelocytic line HL60, the astrocytoma line U373 and the glioblastoma line SK-MG-4, in which BSF-2 was inducible with IL-1 or TPA, displayed BSF-2-R with Kd in the range of 1.3-6.4 X 10(-10) M, suggesting the autocrine mechanism in BSF-2 function. The four T cell lines (CEM, HSB, Jurkat, and OM 1) did not express a detectable number of receptors, but normal resting T cells expressed 100-1,000 receptors per cell. BSF-2-R were not present on normal resting B cells but expressed on activated B cells with a Kd of 3.6-5.0 X 10(-10) M, fitting the function of BSF-2, which acts on B cells at the final maturation stage to induce immunoglobulin production.