Lifelong persistence of AML associated MLL partial tandem duplications (MLL-PTD) in healthy adults

Bäsecke, Jörg; Podleschny, Martina; Clemens, Robert; Schnittger, Susanne; Viereck, Volker; Trümper, Lorenz; Griesinger, Frank

doi:10.1016/j.leukres.2006.02.005

« Previous Next »Leukemia Research
Volume 30, Issue 9 , Pages 1091-1096, September 2006

Lifelong persistence of AML associated MLL partial tandem duplications (MLL-PTD) in healthy adults

Jörg Bäsecke
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
- Corresponding author at: Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Straße 40, D-37075 Göttingen, Germany. Tel.: +49 551 398535; fax: +49 551 392914.
Martina Podleschny
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
Robert Clemens
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
Susanne Schnittger
- Medizinische Klinik III, University of Munich, Klinikum Großhadern, Munich, Germany
Volker Viereck
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
Lorenz Trümper
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
Frank Griesinger
- Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany

Received 28 September 2005; received in revised form 30 January 2006; accepted 2 February 2006. published online 07 March 2011.

Abstract

AML-associated MLL-PTD contribute to leukemogenesis by a gain of function and confer an unfavorable prognosis. Like other leukemia associated aberrations they are also present in healthy adults. To delineate the leukemogenic mechanism we tracked down MLL-PTD in normal hematopoiesis and investigated cord blood samples. MLL-PTD were observed in 56/60 (93%) of all cord bloods. In contrast to AML, the transcript frequency in cord blood was four log scales lower as determined by real-time PCR. The CD34+ progenitor cell, CD33+ myeloid, CD19+ B-lymphoid and CD3+ T-lymphoid subfractions were positive. The ubiquitous presence of MLL-PTD in cord blood implicates a lifelong exposure, not an accumulation during lifetime. Since also present in the stem cell subfraction, these factors seem not to be major determinants in MLL-PTD leukemogenesis.

Keywords: MLL-PTD, Cord blood, Healthy newborn, Leukemogenesis