bcr-abl mRNA lacking abl exon a2 detected by polymerase chain reaction in a chronic myelogeneous leukemia patient

Using the polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analysis the expression was detected of a bcr-abl mRNA lacking abl exon a2. This was due to a corresponding unusual localization of the breakpoint in the c-abl gene and was seen in a patient with Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome positive chronic myelogeneous leukemia in chronic phase. This type of mRNA has been described only once before in two Ph-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients, by Soekarman et al. (1). The abl exon a2 sequences, which are missing in the three reported patients, code for a part of the SH3 region of the abl protein, which is supposed to be involved in negative regulation of the kinase domain. The clinical significance of this finding is discussed.