Search

Contains fulltext : 53271.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), a mature B-cell neoplasm, is genetically characterized by the translocation t(11;14)(q13;q32). However, secondary alterations are required for malignant transformation. The identification of inactivated tumor suppressor genes contributing to the development of MCL may lead to further elucidation of the biology of this disease and help to identify novel targets for therapy. DESIGN AND METHODS: Whole genome microarray-based gene expression profiling on treated versus untreated MCL cell lines was used to identify genes induced by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine. The degree of promoter methylation and transcriptional silencing of selected genes was then proven in MCL cell lines and primary cases by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques, real-time PCR and gene expression profiling. RESULTS: After 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment, we identified more than 1000 upregulated genes, 16 of which were upregulated > or =3-fold. Most of them were not known to be silenced by methylation in MCL. A low expression of ING1, RUNX3 and BNIP3L was observed in three of the five the MCL cell lines. In addition, the expression of PARG1, which is located in the frequently deleted region 1p22.1, was substantially reduced and displayed at least partial promoter methylation in all investigated MCL cell lines as well as in 31 primary MCL cases. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: In summary, we identified interesting novel candidate genes that probably contribute to the progression of MCL and suggest that PARG1 is a strong candidate tumor suppressor gene in MCL.

Familial cases of myelodysplastic syndromes are rare, but are immensely valuable for the investigation of the molecular pathogenesis of myelodysplasia in general. The best-characterized familial myelodysplastic syndrome is that of familial platelet disorder with propensity to myeloid malignancy, caused by heterozygous germline RUNX1 mutations. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of reported cases, allowing for better understanding of the incidence, clinical features, and pathogenesis of this disorder. These recent cases have highlighted the clinical variability of the disorder and confirmed that many patients lack a bleeding and/or thrombocytopenia history. Additionally, several cases of T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia have now been reported, confirming a risk of lymphoid leukemia in patients with inherited RUNX1 mutations. Furthermore, an increased awareness of clinicians has helped detect a number of additional families affected by inherited myelodysplastic syndromes, resulting in the identification of novel causative mechanisms of disease, such as RUNX1 deficiency resulting from constitutional microdeletions of 21q22 and myelodysplasia-associated with telomerase deficiency. Awareness of predisposition to myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia in families may be of critical importance in the management of younger patients with myelodysplasia in whom allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is considered. Such families should be investigated for inherited deficiencies of RUNX1 and/or telomerase to prevent the use of an affected sibling as a donor for transplantation. Here we provide an update on familial platelet disorder in addition to a review of other known familial myelodysplastic syndromes.

From 20-50% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are primarily resistant to induction chemotherapy. It has previously been shown that resistance to the first cycle of induction chemotherapy is an independent prognostic factor. We investigated whether resistance to chemotherapy be represented by gene-expression profiles, and which genes are associated with resistance.cDNA microarrays containing approximately 41,000 features were used to compare the gene-expression profile of AML blasts between 33 patients with good or poor response to induction chemotherapy. Data generated by cDNA-arrays were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.Using significance analysis of microarrays, we identified a characteristic gene-expression profile which distinguished AML samples from patients with good or poor responses. In hierarchical clustering analysis poor responders clustered together with normal CD34+ cells. Moreover, 13/40 (32.5%) genes highly expressed in poor responders are also overexpressed in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Prediction analysis using 10-fold cross-validation revealed an 80% overall accuracy. Using the treatment-response signature to predict the outcome in an independent test set of 104 AML patients, samples were separated into two subgroups with significantly inferior response rate (43.5% vs. 66.7%, p=0.04), significantly shorter event-free and overall survival (p=0.01 and p=0.03, respectively) in the poor-response compared to in the good-response signature group. In multivariate analysis, the treatment-response signature was an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio, 2.1, 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 3.6, p=0.006).Resistance to chemotherapy in AML can be identified by gene-expression profiling before treatment and seems to be mediated by a transcriptional program active in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a rare hematologic malignancy in childhood and accounts for less than 3% of all childhood hematologic malignancies. 1 The role of hyperactive RAS in JMML is underlined by the fact that approximately 80% of JMML develop due to gain-of-function mutations in NRAS, KRAS, PTPN11 and SOS1 or homozygous loss-of-function mutations in NF1 or c-CBL. 2-4 These genes are all components of the RAS/ERK signaling network, implicating deregulation of this signaling pathway in JMML pathogenesis. Therefore, it may be speculated that JMML lacking known mutations of genes playing a role in RAS signaling may carry other mutations, which result in activation of this pathway. Recently, germline mi-RNA gene variations were pro posed to affect the expression levels of tumor suppressor or oncogenes and, thereby, familial/hereditary cancer risk. 5 The let-7 mi-RNA family targets many important genes including cell cycle regulators such as CDC25A and CDK6, a number of early embryonic genes including HMGA2, Mlin-41 and IMP-1 and promoters of growth including RAS and C-MYC. In Caenorhabditis elegans let7 mutant seam cells fail to exit the cell cycle and to terminally differentiate, thus demonstrating continuous prolif eration, a hallmark of cancer. 6 Human RAS expression was also shown to be regulated by let-7. 7 Evidence of a role of let-7 in cancer came from the observation that lung tumor tissues display significantly reduced let-7 levels and significantly increased RAS protein levels relative to nor mal lung tissue. 8