Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.10.2 (focal adhesion kinase)
44,029 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

One hundred and forty-three patients with p210 BCR-ABL-positive leukemia were studied for coexpression of p190 BCR-ABL mRNA. p190 mRNA was detected in 14 of 16 (88%) patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) at diagnosis, in 10 of 10 (100%) CML patients in blast crisis, in 75 of 107 (70%) CML patients receiving interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha), and 10 of 10 (100%) patients with p210 BCR-ABL-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Neither p210 nor p190 BCR-ABL transcripts were detected in normal healthy adults (n = 20). The numbers of p190 transcripts determined by competitive PCR in patients with CML were low compared with the numbers of p210 transcripts. The median numbers of p210 and p190 transcripts per unit volume of cDNA in positive samples were 1.0 x 10(5) (range, 15 to 1.4 x 10(6)) and 10 (range, 10 to 2.9 x 10(3)), respectively. The numbers of p190 and p210 transcripts were significantly correlated in individual samples (r = .65, P < .001). The median number of p210 BCR-ABL transcripts was significantly lower in samples negative for p190 BCR-ABL transcripts than in samples in which p190 BCR-ABL transcripts were identified (3.1 x 10(3)[n = 73] v 1.0 x 10(5)[n = 115]; P < .0001). The median ratio of p190 to p210 BCR-ABL mRNA was not significantly different between chronic phase CML (1.9 x 10(-4)) and CML in blast crisis (1.7 x 10(-4)). The median ratio in p210 ALL was also low (1.9 x 10(-3)) but significantly higher than that of CML. We conclude that pl90 BCR-ABL transcripts are frequently present at a low level in p210 BCR-ABL-positive leukemias. p190 mRNA may arise through alternative or missplicing and its presence is probably of no pathogenetic significance.
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PMID:p190 BCR-ABL mRNA is expressed at low levels in p210-positive chronic myeloid and acute lymphoblastic leukemias. 865 35

Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is characterized cytogenetically by a t(9;22)(q34;ql1) reciprocal translocation which gives origin to a hybrid BCR-ABL gene, encoding a p2lO(BCR-ABL) fusion protein with elevated tyrosine kinase activity and transforming abilities. The t(9;22) was suggested to be associated with genomic imprinting of centromeric regions of chromosomes 9 and 22, but the genes directly affected by the translocation, ABL and BCR, were shown not to be imprinted. For most diagnostic and research purposes the BCR-ABL gene can be efficiently identified by reverse-transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT/PCR) amplification of its fusion transcripts, which can be quantified by competitive PCR and similar assays for assessment of residual disease in the follow-up of therapy. In the great majority of CML patients the BCR-ABL transcripts exhibit a b2a2 and/or a b3a2 junction; in rare cases, the only detectable BCR-ABL transcripts have unusual junctions, such as b2a3, b3a3, e1a2 or e6a2. There is a recent suggestion that the BCR-ABL gene may not be always 'functional', since extremely low levels of BCR-ABL transcripts can be found in leucocytes from normal individuals and, conversely, it appears that no BCR-ABL transcription can be detected in a proportion of Ph-positive haematopoietic progenitors from some CML patients. The role, if any, of the reciprocal ABL-BCR hybrid gene in CML is unknown. Although its mRNA message is in frame, no ABL-BCR fusion protein has yet been identified in CML patients. The blast crisis of CML has been variably associated with abnormalities of proto-oncogenes, such as RAS and MYC, or of tumour suppressor genes, in particular RB, p53 and p16, or with the generation of chimeric transcription factors, as in the AML1-EVI1 gene fusion. It is likely, therefore, that multiple and alternative molecular defects, as opposed to a single universal mechanism, underlie the acute transformation of the disease.
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PMID:The molecular biology of chronic myeloid leukaemia. 865 67

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) can sometimes present in lymphoid blast phase (L-BP), and can be difficult to distinguish from Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Some have suggested that the determination of cell lineages involved by the Ph chromosome may be used for distinguishing CML presenting in L-BP (presumably multilineage disease) from Ph+ ALL (presumably lymphoid-restricted), although others have suggested the term 'stem cell ALL' for the multilineage process. Because it has been difficult to perform lineage studies of the Ph chromosome, we investigated the use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with probes for BCR (on chromosome 22) and ABL (on chromosome 9) to study lineage involvement in Ph+ lymphoblastic malignancies. We analyzed routine blood and marrow specimens from eight patients who presented with Ph+ lymphoblastic leukemia and found that FISH recognized the 9;22 translocation, distinguished between the two common molecular variants, and readily identified multilineage vs lymphoblast-restricted disease. In our series, four patients had multilineage and four had lymphoblast-restricted disease. Multilineage disease was associated with morphologic features of CML at diagnosis and/or reversion to chronic phase CML after treatment leading us to consider it as CML presenting in L-BP. Patients with lymphoid-restricted disease lacked such findings. The survival of three of our four patients with multilineage disease was prolonged, at 25, 28+, and 126+ months, and when data from our entire series are added to those of 18 previously reported cases that were studied for lineage involvement (reviewed in Leukemia 1993; 7: 147), the difference in overall survival between patients with multilineage and lymphoblast-restricted disease is significant (median overall survival of 47 months vs 8 months, respectively; P=0.013, log rank). Our findings illustrate that FISH analysis can be used to recognize lineage involvement in patients presenting with Ph+ lymphoblastic malignancies, and they provide further support to the notion that multilineage and lymphoblast-restricted disease are distinct clinically as well as biologically.
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PMID:Lineage involvement by BCR/ABL in Ph+ lymphoblastic leukemias: chronic myelogenous leukemia presenting in lymphoid blast vs Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 865 74

The proliferation of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells and the transformation of normal hematopoietic cells by BCR-ABL appear to require the expression of a functional MYC protein, suggesting an approach to treatment of Philadelphia leukemias based on simultaneous targeting of BCR-ABL and c-MYC. To test this hypothesis, CML-blast crisis (CML-BC) primary cells were treated in vitro with bcr-abl and c-myc antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides ([S]ODNs), individually or in combination. Compared with antisense ODNs targeting of individual oncogenes, downregulation of both BCR-ABL and c-MYC by specific antisense [S]ODNs resulted in a synergistic antiproliferative effect. Colony formation of normal bone marrow cells was not affected by either treatment. To assess the therapeutic potential of multiple oncogene downregulation, SCID mice injected with CML-BC primary cells were treated systematically with equal doses of bcr-abl or c-myc antisense [S]ODNs or with a combination of both antisense [S]ODNs. Compared with mice treated with individual compounds, the disease process was significantly retarded in the group treated with both [S]ODNs as revealed by flow cytometry, clonogenic assay, and RT-PCR analysis to detect leukemic cells in mouse tissue cell suspensions. These effects correlated with a markedly increased survival of leukemic mice treated with both antisense [S]ODNs. Leukemic cells harvested from antisense [S]ODN-treated mice were sensitive to the effects of antisense [S]ODNs in vitro, suggesting that the treatment can be successfully repeated. These data demonstrate the therapeutic potential of targeting multiple cooperating oncogenes.
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PMID:Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide combination therapy of primary chronic myelogenous leukemia blast crisis in SCID mice. 870 8

In chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) the classical 9;22 translocation results in a BCR-ABL fusion gene, which encodes chimeric BCR-ABL fusion 210 kD oncoproteins (p210BCR-ABL). The two main p210BCR-ABL fusion variants in CML, b2a2 and b3a2 are examples of well characterized antigens expressed by malignant cells. The possibility of an immunotherapeutic approach involving the fusion part of p210BCR-ABL in CML has previously been illustrated by observed peptide binding to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I alleles and by demonstrating the immunogenicity of p210BCR-ABL breakpoint peptides. In this report we show that in vitro immunization of human T cells with a 17 amino acid (aa) peptide representing the p210BCR-ABL fusion region resulted in peptide specific CD4+ T-cell lines designated P4, P6, and P7. HLA DR4 (DRB1*0401) restricted T-cell line P4 and several subsequently derived clones recognized HLA-DRB1*0401 and p210b3a2-mRNA expressing blasts from an allogeneic patient with CML in blast crisis. Recognition appeared DR expression-dependent. No responses were observed with DR4 positive p210BCR-ABL negative cells or with p210b3a2 leukemic cells with absent or insufficient expression of DR4. These observations indicate that oncoprotein p210b3a2 can be degraded and processed for presentation by MHC class II molecules at the surface of leukemic cells. The BCR-ABL fusion region is in all likelihood presented as peptides by HLA DR and thus capable to act as a distinctive tumor antigen to peptide specific CD4+ T cells.
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PMID:Recognition of BCR-ABL positive leukemic blasts by human CD4+ T cells elicited by primary in vitro immunization with a BCR-ABL breakpoint peptide. 889 19

Blastic transformation of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is characterized by the presence of nonrandom, secondary genetic abnormalities in the majority of Philadelphia1 clones, and loss of p53 tumor suppressor gene function is a consistent finding in 25-30% of CML blast crisis patients. To test whether the functional loss of p53 plays a direct role in the transition of chronic phase to blast crisis, bone marrow cells from p53+/+ or p53-/- mice were infected with a retrovirus carrying either the wild-type BCR/ABL or the inactive kinase-deficient mutant, and were assessed for colony-forming ability. Infection of p53-/- marrow cells with wild-type BCR/ABL, but not with the kinase-deficient mutant, enhanced formation of hematopoietic colonies and induced growth factor independence at high frequency, as compared with p53+/+ marrow cells. These effects were suppressed when p53-/- marrow cells were coinfected with BCR/ ABL and wild-type p53. p53-deficient BCR/ABL-infected marrow cells had a proliferative advantage, as reflected by an increase in the fraction of S+G2 phase cells and a decrease in the number of apoptotic cells. Immunophenotyping and morphological analysis revealed that BCR/ABL-positive p53-/- cells were much less differentiated than their BCR/ABL-positive p53+/+ counterparts. Injection of immunodeficient mice with BCR/ABL-positive p53-/- cells produced a transplantable, highly aggressive, poorly differentiated acute myelogenous leukemia. In marked contrast, the disease process in mice injected with BCR/ABL-positive p53+/+ marrow cells was characterized by cell infiltrates with a more differentiated phenotype and was significantly retarded, as indicated by a much longer survival of leukemic mice. Together, these findings directly demonstrate that loss of p53 function plays an important role in blast transformation in CML.
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PMID:Blastic transformation of p53-deficient bone marrow cells by p210bcr/abl tyrosine kinase. 891 57

We used comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to identify a number of previously undescribed chromosomal imbalances in K-562, a spontaneously transformed cell line originally derived from leukemic cells of a chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patient in blast crisis. Noteworthy were a discrete amplification in band 13q31, increased copy number of chromosome arms 1q, 5p, 6p, and 16q, and loss of material from 8p, 9p, 10q, and 17p. Amplification within bands 9q34 and 22q11.2 was consistent with previous descriptions of increased copy number of the CML-specific 5'BCR-3'ABL fusion gene in K-562. However, amplification of a large distal segment, 9q31-->9q34, mostly proximal to the ABL locus, was unexpected and is unlikely to be related to BCR-ABL recombination. Previous karyotype studies are reviewed in detail and compared with the CGH findings.
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PMID:Comparative genomic hybridization reveals previously undescribed amplifications and deletions in the chronic myeloid leukemia-derived K-562 cell line. 913 93

Interferon regulatory factors (IRF) 1 and 2 are DNA-binding proteins which control interferon (IFN) gene expression. IRF1 functions as an activator for IFN and IFN-inducible genes, whereas IRF2 represses the action of IRF1. Expression of the two regulatory genes is itself IFN-inducible. Because therapeutic responses of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients to IFN-alpha may be determined by intracellular levels of these two mutually antagonistic transcription factors, we have devised a competitive reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay which provides an estimate of the ratio of IRF1 to IRF2 expression in a given cell population. Analysis of peripheral blood leucocytes from 25 normal individuals showed that the IRF1:IRF2 ratio varied between 1.13 and 2.30 (mean +/- s.d. 1.49 +/- 0.33). Similar values were obtained for normal bone marrow specimens, with no significant difference between CD34+ and CD34- cells. In contrast, the IRF1:IRF2 ratio in leucocytes from CML patients showed a much wider variation (0.53-5.11). Eleven out of 130 patients in chronic phase had ratios above the normal range, whereas none of the 33 blast crisis samples had a ratio >2.5. Analysis of diagnostic specimens in 59 CML patients treated subsequently with IFN-alpha showed a high IRF1:IRF2 ratio of 5.11 in one of two patients who became complete responders; all the 53 patients with minimal or no cytogenetic response had ratios below 2.5. In a separate series of 97 CML patients studied after IFN-alpha therapy a highly significant correlation was found between the IRF1:IRF2 ratio and both the cytogenetic and the molecular response (ie low concentration of BCR-ABL transcripts) to treatment: 53 out of 115 prospectively analysed samples of good cytogenetic responders had ratios above 2.0, as opposed to only 13 out of 91 samples from poor responders (P < 0.0001; chi2 test). We conclude that a high ratio of IRF1/IRF2 expression may be associated with good cytogenetic and molecular response to IFN-alpha in CML.
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PMID:Expression of interferon regulatory factor (IRF) genes and response to interferon-alpha in chronic myeloid leukaemia. 920 71

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a clonal disorder starting with a chronic phase and progressing to an acute blastic phase. Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome formation results in the relocation of the ABL oncogene from the chromosome 9q34 to BCR region on 22q11, forming the BCR/ABL fusion gene. The Ph chromosome once detected rarely disappears, except as a result of therapy. We present an unusual Ph-positive CML case, which developed lymphoid blast crisis in complete cytogenetic remission following interferon-alpha and hydroxyurea therapy. Sequential cytogenetic investigations were carried out on bone marrow. After a standard Ph translocation seen at diagnosis, from the 8th month of therapy all metaphases showed a normal diploid karyotype. Fluorescence in situ hybridization detected residual BCR/ABL-positive interphase cells during the 12th month of therapy. In the 14th month, the patient showed 27% blasts in marrow though normal cytogenetics was maintained. Present findings suggest blastic transformation occurred in a Ph-negative lymphoid clone. This supports the hypothesis that an actual leukemogenic event occurs in a multipotent stem cell prior to the acquisition of Ph translocation.
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PMID:Lymphoid blast crisis during complete cytogenetic remission following interferon-alpha and hydroxyurea therapy. 935 47

The 1982 discovery that in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) the ABL proto-oncogene is translocated to the BCR gene located on chromosome 22 initiated many studies on the structural organization and function of these genes. The nucleotide sequence of the entire BCR and major parts of the ABL gene has now been determined. However, the actual cause of the fusion of BCR with ABL remains essentially unknown. Mouse models have been helpful to unravel the normal cellular function of BCR and ABL, as well the activity of BCR-ABL, although a single mechanism explaining the transforming activity of the latter has not been discovered. The cause of progression of the disease remains unknown, and no single genetic abnormality has been linked to the blast phase of CML. Much has been learned concerning the molecular biology of CML, but answers to the fundamental questions above may be expected in the coming years in parallel to increasing knowledge of genome structure, signal transduction and cell cycle control.
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PMID:The chimeric BCR-ABL gene. 937 59


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