Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0598766 (leukemogenesis)
 4,065 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The frequent occurrence of TF gene involvement in translocations associated with leukemia is remarkable, although not yet explained. The wide variety of TFs involved in these translocations and the different stages of cellular maturation argue against a unifying mechanism. Recombinases, active during B-cell and T-cell development, have been implicated in gene arrangements involving TCR genes and in the SIL/SCL rearrangement, which involves two genes not normally rearranged. However, other mechanisms must clearly be active in generating these molecular abnormalities and perhaps they relate to the multistep maturation and differentiation processes and continuous cell turnover seen in hematopoietic cells. The difficulties in obtaining human solid tumor samples may make it more difficult to identify translocations involving TF genes in solid tumors. Recently, the cytogenetic analysis of solid tumors has improved and specific cytogenetic abnormalities have been associated with specific types of tumors. With advanced techniques, such as fluorescent in situ hybridization (a technique that does not depend on cell growth) and PCR, abnormalities involving TF genes will be discovered. Abnormalities of TF genes, other than translocations, have been seen in a broad variety of nonhematopoietic malignancies. The p53 protein has been shown to bind DNA in a sequence-specific fashion and interact with a variety of DNA tumor virus oncoproteins. The broad range of cell types that harbor p53 abnormalities suggests that TF abnormalities will likely be implicated in many solid tumors. We have detailed several examples of how gene rearrangements that accompany chromosomal translocations in acute leukemia can alter the expression or activity of cellular TFs. Several translocations generate fusion RNA transcripts and fusion TF proteins with altered functional characteristics. Other translocations result in the expression of a gene not normally detectable in hematopoietic cells or alter the level of its expression, or affect the promoter usage or exon structure of the gene (Table 2). Studies are underway in many laboratories to characterize the biologic activity of these abnormal TFs and it remains to be proven that these molecular abnormalities are directly linked with leukemogenesis. The identification of abnormal fusion transcripts and proteins may allow specific therapies to be directed against "tumor-specific" DNA, mRNA, or protein targets. Therapeutic strategies based on antisense or ribozyme technology may be used to turn off expression of these genes and inhibit leukemia cell growth. Immunologic methods can also be used to direct therapy against the malignant cells.
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PMID:Transcription factors, translocations, and leukemia. 136 70

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a relatively uncommon disease, constituting only approximately 15% of newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) in the United States, or roughly 300 cases per year. Outside of the United States, in countries such as Egypt and India, T-ALL may represent as much as 50% of all ALL's but still remains an overall rare disease. The clinical importance of T-ALL lies in its poor responsiveness to therapy that has proved highly effective with standard B-cell precursor ALL (BCP-ALL). The scientific importance of human T-ALL has resided in its role as a cancer prototype, permitting the identification of novel genes centrally involved in both neoplastic change and normal cellular differentiation. One of these genes, SCL/tal, has received significant attention due to its intimate involvement in T-ALL, as well as in normal hematopoiesis. Although a tremendous amount has been recently discovered about SCL/tal, its exact roles in leukemogenesis and normal hematopoiesis remain obscure.
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PMID:T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and the associated basic helix-loop-helix gene SCL/tal. 816 48

The gene most commonly activated by chromosomal rearrangements in patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is SCL/tal. In collaboration with LMO1 or LMO2, the thymic expression of SCL/tal leads to T-ALL at a young age with a high degree of penetrance in transgenic mice. We now show that SCL LMO1 double-transgenic mice display thymocyte developmental abnormalities in terms of proliferation, apoptosis, clonality, and immunophenotype prior to the onset of a frank malignancy. At 4 weeks of age, thymocytes from SCL LMO1 mice show 70% fewer total thymocytes, with increased rates of both proliferation and apoptosis, than control thymocytes. At this age, a clonal population of thymocytes begins to populate the thymus, as evidenced by oligoclonal T-cell-receptor gene rearrangements. Also, there is a dramatic increase in immature CD44(+) CD25(-) cells, a decrease in the more mature CD4(+) CD8(+) cells, and development of an abnormal CD44(+) CD8(+) population. An identical pattern of premalignant changes is seen with either a full-length SCL protein or an amino-terminal truncated protein which lacks the SCL transactivation domain, demonstrating that the amino-terminal portion of SCL is not important for leukemogenesis. Lastly, we show that the T-ALL which develop in the SCL LMO1 mice are strikingly similar to those which develop in E2A null mice, supporting the hypothesis that SCL exerts its oncogenic action through a functional inactivation of E proteins.
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PMID:Disordered T-cell development and T-cell malignancies in SCL LMO1 double-transgenic mice: parallels with E2A-deficient mice. 1037 52

Activation of the TAL1 (or SCL) gene is the most frequent gain-of-function mutation in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). TAL1 belongs to the basic helix-loop-helix (HLH) family of transcription factors that bind as heterodimers with the E2A and HEB/HTF4 gene products to a nucleotide sequence motif termed the E-box. Reported to act both as an activator and as a repressor of transcription, the mechanisms underlying TAL1-regulated gene expression are poorly understood. We report here that the corepressor mSin3A is associated with TAL1 in murine erythroleukemia (MEL) and human T-ALL cells. Interaction mapping showed that the basic-HLH domain of TAL1 was both necessary and sufficient for TAL1-mSin3A interaction. TAL1 was found, in addition, to interact with the histone deacetylase HDAC1 in vitro and in vivo, and a specific histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), relieved TAL1-mediated repression of an E-box-containing promoter and a GAL4 reporter linked to a thymidine kinase minimal promoter. Further, TAL1 association with mSin3A and HDAC1 declined during dimethyl sulfoxide-induced differentiation of MEL cells in parallel with a decrease in mSin3A abundance. Finally, TSA had a synergistic effect with enforced TAL1 expression in stimulating MEL cells to differentiate, while constitutive expression of mSin3A inhibited MEL cell differentiation. These results demonstrate that a corepressor complex containing mSin3A and HDAC1 interacts with TAL1 and restricts its function in erythroid differentiation. This also has implications for this transcription factor's actions in leukemogenesis.
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PMID:mSin3A regulates murine erythroleukemia cell differentiation through association with the TAL1 (or SCL) transcription factor. 1068 71

Activation of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene TAL-1 (or SCL) is the most frequent gain-of-function mutation in pediatric T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Similarly, mis-expression of tal-1 in the thymus of transgenic mice results in the development of clonal T cell lymphoblastic leukemia. To determine the mechanism(s) of tal-1-induced leukemogenesis, we created transgenic mice expressing a DNA binding mutant of tal-1. Surprisingly, these mice develop disease, demonstrating that the DNA binding properties of tal-1 are not required to induce leukemia/lymphoma in mice. However, wild type tal-1 and the DNA binding mutant both form stable complexes with E2A proteins. In addition, tal-1 stimulates differentiation of CD8-single positive thymocytes but inhibits the development of CD4-single positive cells: effects also observed in E2A-deficient mice. Our study suggests that the bHLH protein tal-1 contributes to leukemia by interfering with E2A protein function(s).
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PMID:The DNA binding activity of TAL-1 is not required to induce leukemia/lymphoma in mice. 1143 53

The E2A locus is a frequent target of chromosomal translocations in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). E2A encodes two products, E12 and E47, that are part of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family of transcription factors and are central in B lineage differentiation. E2A haplo-insufficiency hinders progression through three major checkpoints in B-cell development: commitment into the B lineage, at the pro-B to pre-B transition, and in the induction of immunoglobulin M (IgM) expression required for a functional BCR. These observations underscore the importance of E2A gene dosage in B-cell development. Here we show that a higher proportion of pro-B cells in E2A(+/-) mice is in the cell cycle compared to that in wild-type littermates. This increase correlates with lower p21(waf/cip1) levels, indicating that E2A has an antiproliferative function in B-cell progenitors. Ectopic expression in the B lineage of SCL/Tal1, a tissue-specific bHLH factor that inhibits E2A function, blocks commitment into the B lineage without affecting progression through later stages of differentiation. Furthermore, ectopic SCL expression exacerbates E2A haplo-insufficiency in B-cell differentiation, indicating that SCL genetically interacts with E2A. Taken together, these observations provide evidence for a gradient of E2A activity that increases from the pre-pro-B to the pre-B stage and suggest a model in which low levels of E2A (as in pro-B cells) are sufficient to control cell growth, while high levels (in pre-B cells) are required for cell differentiation. The antiproliferative function of E2A further suggests that in B-ALL associated with t(1;19) and t(17;19), the disruption of one E2A allele contributes to leukemogenesis, in addition to other anomalies induced by E2A fusion proteins.
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PMID:Gradient of E2A activity in B-cell development. 1178 64

The SIL gene undergoes a site-specific rearrangement with the SCL gene in 25% of patients with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The functional result of this rearrangement is that the SIL regulatory elements aberrantly drive expression of the SCL gene. We have cloned and sequenced the human SIL promoter, cloned a murine homolog, found the sequence to be highly conserved, and defined a minimal promoter region. Both the cloned murine and human sequences were found to be highly active in either human or murine cells. SCL mRNA, driven by a cloned SIL promoter, could be downregulated by DMSO in stably transfected F4-6 murine erythroleukemia cells. The SIL promoter was found to be partially unmethylated in proliferating tissues, in which it is highly expressed, and more highly methylated in post-mitotic tissues, in which SIL is not expressed. The isolation of the SIL promoter provides an important tool for the study of both the SIL gene expression as well as the role of the SIL promoter in leukemogenesis.
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PMID:Cloning and characterization of the SIL promoter. 1253 81

TAL-1/SCL activation is a common genetic event in pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Expression of tal-1/scl or a DNA binding mutant of tal-1/scl induces arrest of thymocyte development, resulting in decreases in double-positive and single-positive CD4 thymocytes. Moreover, nuclear p65/p50 heterodimers are detected in premalignant tal-1/scl and mut tal-1/scl thymocytes, suggesting that E2A depletion may induce developmental arrest and stimulate NF-kappaB activation. Increased NF-kappaB activity is also observed in tal-1/scl tumors and bcl-2 is overexpressed. To examine the contribution of NF-kappaB to tal-1/scl tumor growth in vivo, we expressed a mutant form of IkappaBalpha in tal-1/scl tumor cells. Although expression of mutant IkappaBalpha inhibited the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced NF-kappaB response, it had no effect on tumor growth in mice. These data suggest that NF-kappaB activation is an early event in tal-1/scl-induced leukemogenesis, associated with arrest of thymocyte development, and does not appear to contribute to tal-1/scl-induced tumor growth.
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PMID:NF-kappaB activation in premalignant mouse tal-1/scl thymocytes and tumors. 1281 68

In the hematopoietic system, lineage commitment and differentiation is controlled by the combinatorial action of transcription factors from diverse families. SCL is a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor that is an essential regulator at several levels in the hematopoietic hierarchy and whose inappropriate regulation frequently contributes to the development of pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This review discusses advances that have shed important light on the functions played by SCL during normal hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis and have revealed an unexpected robustness of hematopoietic stem cell function. Molecular studies have unraveled a mechanism through which gene expression is tightly controlled, as SCL functions within multifactorial complexes that exhibit an all-or-none switch-like behavior in transcription activation, arguing for a quantal process that depends on the concurrent occupation of target loci by all members of the complex. Finally, variations in composition of SCL-containing complexes may ensure flexibility and specificity in the regulation of lineage-specific programs of gene expression, thus providing the molecular basis through which SCL exerts its essential functions at several branch points of the hematopoietic hierarchy.
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PMID:SCL: from the origin of hematopoiesis to stem cells and leukemia. 1472 96

Aneuploidy is one of the hallmarks of cancer. Acquired additions of chromosome 21 are a common finding in leukemias, suggesting a contributory role to leukemogenesis. About 10% of patients with a germ line trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) are born with transient megakaryoblastic leukemia. We and others have shown acquired mutations in the X chromosome gene GATA1 in all these cases. The gene or genes on chromosome 21 whose overexpression promote the megakaryoblastic phenotype are presently unknown. We propose that ERG, an Ets transcription factor situated on chromosome 21, is one such candidate. We show that ERG is expressed in hematopoietic stem cells, megakaryoblastic cell lines, and in primary leukemic cells from Down syndrome patients. ERG expression is induced upon megakaryocytic differentiation of the erythroleukemia cell lines K562 and UT-7, and forced expression of ERG in K562 cells induces erythroid to megakaryoblastic phenotypic switch. We also show that ERG activates the gpIb megakaryocytic promoter and binds the gpIIb promoter in vivo. Furthermore, both ERG and ETS2 bind in vivo the hematopoietic enhancer of SCL/TAL1, a key regulator of hematopoietic stem cell and megakaryocytic development. We propose that trisomy 21 facilitates the occurrence of megakaryoblastic leukemias through a shift toward the megakaryoblastic lineage caused by the excess expression of ERG, and possibly by other chromosome 21 genes, such as RUNX1 and ETS2, in hematopoietic progenitor cells, coupled with a differentiation arrest caused by the acquisition of mutations in GATA1.
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PMID:The proto-oncogene ERG in megakaryoblastic leukemias. 1614 Sep 24


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