Transcription regulators altered in hematologic malignancy

Many hematologic malignancies are associated with recurrent cytogenetic abnormalities. Often these rearrangements result in gene fusion, leading to altered gene expression and/or activity. As the gene affected by these rearrangements are characterized at the molecular level, one particular group, the DNA binding transcriptional regulatory genes, are becoming more prominent. In this communication, we review how these genetic rearrangements effect the structure and expression of transcriptional regulatory proteins, and discuss how these abnormalities may be used quantitative diagnostic markers to analyze disease activity.