Mapping of leukaemia-associated breakpoints in chromosome band 3q21 using a newly established PAC contig

Chromosome aberrations affecting band 3q21 are associated with a particularly poor prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia. To facilitate the molecular characterization of such rearrangements, we established a PAC contig covering the relevant genomic region. Using these PACs as probes in fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) experiments, we showed that a number of 3q21 breakpoints in patient samples map to a previously defined 'breakpoint cluster region'. Others, however, are located at varying distances centromeric of it. These results have important implications in the search for genes affected by 3q21 rearrangements.