GEMMs addressing Pax5 loss-of-function in childhood pB-ALL

Germline mutations in transcription factors, which are implicated in hematopoiesis in general or specifically in B-cell differentiation have recently been described to confer an inherited risk to pB-ALL with often reduced penetrance. Predicting leukemia development, therapy response and long term follow up of mutation carriers is challenging because experience from large patient cohorts and their long term follow up are not available. Genetically Engineered Murine Models (GEMMs) represent a promising approach to create individualized and precise models reproducing the molecular makeup of the human disease. This review focuses on PAX5 loss-of-function and summarizes techniques of murine model generation, available GEMMs, which mimic Pax5 loss-of-function in leukemia development and discusses the challenges and drawbacks of these models. These aspects are discussed in the context of creating a robust model, which serves not only for validation of the relevance of a genomic alteration in pB-ALL but at the same time as a valid preclinical model.