Fanconi anemia: a pleotropic mutation with multiple cellular and developmental abnormalities

Fanconi anemia (FA), an autosomal recessive disorder of children, is characterized by congenital or childhood aplastic anemia, multiple developmental anomalies, increased incidence of myeloid leukemia, increased spontaneous chromosome breakage, and cellular and chromosomal hypersensitivity to DNA bifunctional crosslinking and alkylating agents. Attempts to understand the biochemical basis of the disorder over the past two and a half decades have resulted in a number of descriptive studies pertaining to cytogenetic and biochemical abnormalities, especially of DNA repair proficiency following treatment with DNA bifunctional crosslinking agents. More recent approaches such as DNA transfection offer the potential for isolation and molecular characterization of the gene. The FA gene is postulated to belong to the family of genes that regulate the development of hematopoietic and other cell types.