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BCL6 translocations are common in B-cell lymphomas and frequently have chromosomal breaks in immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) switch regions, suggesting that they occur during class-switch recombination. We analyze 120 BCL6 translocation breakpoints clustered in a 2156-bp segment of BCL6 intron 1, including 62 breakpoints (52%) joined to IgH, 12 (10%) joined to Ig light chains, and 46 (38%) joined to non-Ig partners. The BCL6 breaks in Ig-BCL6 translocations prefer known activation-induced cytosine deaminase (AID) hotspots such as WGCW and WRC (W = A/T, R = A/G), whereas BCL6 breaks in non-Ig rearrangements occur at CpG/CGC sites in addition to WGCW. Unlike previously identified CpG breaks in pro-B/pre-B-cell translocations, the BCL6 breaks do not show evidence of recombination activating gene or terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase activity. Both WGCW/WRC and CpG/CGC breaks at BCL6 are most likely initiated by AID in germinal center B-cells, and their differential use suggests subtle mechanistic differences between Ig-BCL6 and non-Ig-BCL6 rearrangements.

Previous studies have implicated activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) in B-cell translocations but have failed to identify any association between their chromosomal breakpoints and known AID target sequences. Analysis of 56 unclustered IgH-CCND1 translocations in mantle cell lymphoma across the ∼ 344-kb bcl-1 breakpoint locus demonstrates that half of the CCND1 breaks are near CpG dinucleotides. Most of these CpG breaks are at CGC motifs, and half of the remaining breaks are near WGCW, both known AID targets. These findings provide the strongest evidence to date that AID initiates chromosomal breaks in translocations that occur in human bone marrow B-cell progenitors. We also identify WGCW breaks at the MYC locus in Burkitt lymphoma translocations and murine IgH-MYC translocations, both of which arise in mature germinal center B cells. Finally, we propose a developmental model to explain the transition from CpG breaks in early human B-cell progenitors to WGCW breaks in later stage B cells.

The t(14;18)(q32;q21) involving the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus (IGH) and the MALT1 gene is a recurrent abnormality in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas. However, the nucleotide sequence of only one t(14;18)-positive MALT lymphoma has been reported so far. We here report the molecular characterization of the IGH-MALT1 fusion products in 5 new cases of t(14;18)-positive MALT lymphomas. Similar to the IGH-associated translocations in follicular and mantle cell lymphomas, the IGH-MALT1 junctions in MALT lymphoma showed all features of a recombination signal sequence-guided V(D)J-mediated translocation at the IGH locus. Furthermore, analogous to follicular and mantle cell lymphoma, templated nucleotides (T-nucleotides) were identified at the t(14;18)/IGH-MALT1 breakpoint junctions. On chromosome 18, we identified a novel major breakpoint region in MALT1 upstream of its coding region. Moreover, the presence of duplications of MALT1 nucleotides in one case suggests an underlying staggered DNA-break process not consistent with V(D)J-mediated recombination. The molecular characteristics of the t(14;18)/IGH-MALT1 resemble those found in the t(14;18)/IGH-BCL2 in follicular lymphoma and t(11;14)/CCND1-IGH in mantle cell lymphoma, suggesting that these translocations could be generated by common pathomechanisms involving illegitimate V(D)J-mediated recombination on IGH as well as new synthesis of T-nucleotides and nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) or alternative NHEJ repair pathways on the IGH-translocation partner.

Abstract 398 Most t(11;14)(q13;q32) breakpoints in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) are scattered across a large genomic region centromeric to the CCND1 gene on chromosome 11q13. However, few t(11;14) breakpoints outside the major translocation cluster (MTC) have been sequenced. We report our analysis of 56 IGH-CCND1 fusion sequences from 32 non-MTC cases of MCL. Our analysis reveals remarkable breakpoint diversity at both CCND1 and IGH loci. The CCND1 breakpoints are located from 2 kb to 331 kb from the CCND1 gene, including 12 breakpoints (38%) in the 220kb region centromeric to the MTC, which is itself located 110 kb centromeric to the CCND1 gene. Twenty-one cases had a JH coding end breakpoint on the der(14) chromosome and a DH coding end breakpoint on the der(11). Two cases had der(14) and der(11) breakpoints derived from the coding and signal ends of the same JH or DH gene segment; one case had a JH/DH breakpoint on the der(14) and a VH breakpoint on the der(11); and one case had a breakpoint in the JH region located >100 bases from the nearest RSS motif, suggesting a RAG-independent break at IGH. No der(11) breakpoint could be amplified in eight cases. In sixteen cases (50%), one or both CCND1 breakpoints were within 4 bases of a CpG dinucleotide, a feature characteristic of translocation breakpoints in many human B cell lymphomas. Three CpG-associated “microclusters” were identified, i.e. breakpoints in two different tumors located at or near the same CpG site. Breakpoints in the sixteen (50%) “non-CpG” cases showed a significant association with AID hotspot motifs at the CCND1 locus. In addition, the non-CpG breakpoints were more likely to: 1) be located telomeric to the MTC, 2) involve 3' JH and 5' DH gene segments, and 3) be associated with immunoglobulin lambda light chain restriction; features that suggest occurrence at a late stage of pre-B cell maturation. In contrast, the CpG-associated breakpoints were: 1) more likely to be centromeric to the MTC, 2) not biased in their JH or DH segment usage, and 3) associated with kappa light chain restriction; features suggesting occurrence in an earlier pre-B cell or pro-B cell. Our results implicate AID in chromosomal breakage at both CpG and non-CpG sites within the CCND1 locus and suggest that AID and RAG collude to generate the chromosomal breaks underlying the t(11;14). Our findings also suggest that IGH-CCND1 rearrangements can occur at different stages of pre-B cell maturation. This study provides novel insights into the mechanism and developmental timing of the t(11;14) in human MCL, features that are likely to be relevant to a broad range of human lymphomas. Disclosures: Greisman: Signature Genomics, LLC: Patents & Royalties. Yi:Signature Genomics, LLC: Patents & Royalties.