Mutation Analysis of the WT1 Gene in Myelodysplastic Syndromes

The WT1 tumor suppressor gene was examined for mutations in a panel of 44 patients with myelo-dysplastic syndromes (MDS) including acute myelogenous leukemias (AML) secondary to MDS, using polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis and sequencing analysis. A WT1 mutation was detected in one out of 17 cases of AML secondary to MDS. This mutation exists upstream of the zinc finger region and is predicted to produce a truncated WT1 protein lacking the zinc finger region. No mutations were detected in 27 MDS patients who had not progressed to AML. This is the first report of analysis for WT1 mutations in a large number of MDS patients, suggesting that WT1 mutations are uncommon in MDS. Abnormalities in this gene may, however, contribute to a small proportion of cases showing progression from MDS into AML.     

骨髓增生异常综合征ASXL1基因突变的研究

目的 研究骨髓增生异常综合征(MDS)患者中表观遗传调节因子ASXL1基因的突变情况.方法 在DNA水平采用聚合酶链反应(PCR)扩增产物片段直接测序分析法检测53例初发MDS患者及20名健康人ASXL1基因第12外显子突变情况,比较ASXL1突变患者与野生型患者临床及实验室特征;反转录聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)扩增产物直接测序分析法检测ASXL1突变在mRNA水平的表达.结果 在53例MDS患者中,9例(16.9%)ASXL1基因突变.共检测出6种突变类型,包括4种移码突变(2例p.Glu635ArgfsX15、3例p.Gly646TrpfsX12、1例p.Ala640GlyfsX14、1例p.Gly790TrpfsX10)和2种无义突变(1例p.Gln1063X和1例p.Gln695X).所有突变类型均为杂合突变,其中p.Gly790TrpfsX10和p.Gln695X为新发现突变类型.此外还检测到一种单核苷酸多态性(SNP)位点(4例p.Gly652Ser).20名健康人中检测出pGly652Ser SNP5名和p.Leu1173Leu SNP1名.RT-PCR扩增产物片段直接测序可在mRNA水平检测出移码突变(p.Gly646TrpfsX12).ASXL1突变患者初发时外周血白细胞计数、红细胞计数、血小板计数、血红蛋白、网织红细胞、中性粒细胞绝对值、外周血淋巴细胞比例、T细胞亚群、骨髓原始细胞比例、MDS分型和染色体核型分布与ASXL1野生型患者相比,差异均无统计学意义(均P>0.05).结论 ASXL1基因在MDS患者中的突变频率较高,且可在mRNA水平检测到ASXL1基因突变.     

KIS induces proliferation and the cell cycle progression through the phosphorylation of p27Kip1 in leukemia cells

CEM, MOLT4 and SUP-B15 cells were transduced with lentivirus-mediated siRNA KIS gene. The mRNA expressions of KIS were successfully reduced in all cell lines. On the other hand, the mRNA expressions of p27(Kip1) in CEM, MOLT4 and SUP-B15 cells were not affected by the transduction with siRNA KIS gene. We showed that KIS protein directly interacted with p27(Kip1) protein, and reduction of KIS inhibited the S10 phosphorylation of p27(Kip1) in leukemia cells. On these cells transfected with siRNA KIS, the inhibition of S10 phosphorylation of p27(Kip1) was strongly suppressed cell proliferation in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, the inhibition of S10 phosphorylation of p27(Kip1) increased a significant population in G0/G1 fraction. These data demonstrated that the KIS activity was induced during G0/G1, and it promotes cell cycle progression by phosphorylation of S10 on p27(Kip1). We showed that KIS mRNA expression was increased in primary leukemia specimens (acute myelogenous leukemia (AML); 37, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS); 72, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); 23), and the mean ratios of KIS to G3PDH in AML, MDS and ALL specimens were 3.62+/-0.68, 3.27+/-0.73 and 3.17+/-0.58, respectively. Moreover, we found that KIS protein was overexpressed in all 132 adults cases of various leukemias, including 37 AML (8 M1, 12 M2, 2 M3, 7 M4, 8 M5), 72 MDS (42 RAEB-I, 30 REAB-II) and 23 ALL (23 L2). This study demonstrates that the elevated levels of KIS protein in leukemia cells promote the cell cycle progression in leukemia cells.     

Mutation analysis of the DNA-damage checkpoint gene CHK2 in myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemias

Checkpoint genes code for a family of proteins which sense DNA damage in eukaryotic cells. They play an important role in the control of the cell cycle. The human CHK2 is a homolog of the yeast G(2) checkpoint kinases known as CDS1 and RAD53. The CHK2 may be a tumor suppressor gene because it was found to be mutated in some individuals with the Li-Fraumeni syndrome. These cases had a normal, non-mutated p53 gene. We performed a mutational analysis of the CHK2 gene using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) in 41 bone marrow samples from individuals with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and 41 samples of acute myeloid leukemias (AML). We found a novel G to C transversion resulting in a change from Ala to Gly at codon 507 of CHK2 in one MDS sample, but normal cells from this individual did not have the abnormality. In addition, we demonstrated a previously described polymorphism at codon 84 (A to G at nucleotide 252) of exon 1 of CHK2 in three of 41 MDS and three of 41 AML patients. The presence of a CHK2 mutation in MDS highlights the importance of alterations of cell cycle checkpoint genes in this disease.     

Mutational analysis of splicing machinery genes SF3B1, U2AF1 and SRSF2 in myelodysplasia and other common tumors

Recurrent somatic mutations in splicing machinery components, including SF3B1, U2AF1 and SRSF2 genes have recently been reported in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Such a recurrent nature strongly suggests that these mutations play important roles in tumor development. To see whether SF3B1, U2AF1 and SRSF2 mutations occur in other human tumors besides MDS, we analyzed the hotspot mutation regions of these genes in 2,345 tumor tissues from various origins (61 MDS, other 616 hematologic tumors, 1,421 epithelial tumors and 247 non‐epithelial stromal tumors) by single‐strand conformation polymorphism analysis. We found SF3B1, U2AF1 and SRSF2 mutations in 5 (8.2%), 12 (19.7%) and 8 (13.1%) of 61 MDS, respectively. We also confirmed these mutations in other myeloid neoplasia, including de novo acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and MDS/myeloproliferative disorder. In addition, we discovered that the SRSF2 gene was mutated in two childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemias (childhood ALL) (1.5%). In solid tumors, we found SF3B1 mutations in gastric and prostate cancers, and U2AF1 mutation in a borderline mucinous tumor of ovary, but the overall incidences of the hotspot mutation regions were very low (0.2%). Our data suggest that SF3B1, U2AF1 and SRSF2 mutations occur not only in myeloid lineage tumors but also in lymphoid lineage tumors. The data suggest that the splicing gene mutations play important roles in the pathogenesis of hematologic tumors, but rarely in solid tumors.