Induction of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in Mice

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder derived from a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC), harboring Philadelphia chromosome (Ph chromosome). Formation of the Ph chromosome is caused by a reciprocal translocation between the chromosomes 9 and 22 t(9;22)(q34;q11), resulting in a fusion protein known as BCR-ABL which has constitutive tyrosine kinase activity and promotes the proliferation of leukemia cells via multiple mechanisms. Studies on CML have led to the identification of the first cancer-associated chromosomal abnormality and the subsequent development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) that inhibit BCR-ABL kinase activity in CML. It has become clear that leukemia stem cells (LSCs) in CML are insensitive to inhibition by TKIs, and eradication of LSCs appears to be difficult. Therefore, some of the major issues in current CML therapy are to understand the biology of LSCs and to investigate why LSCs are insensitive to TKIs for developing curative therapeutic strategies. In this regard, application of mouse models recapitulating human CML disease will be critical. In this chapter, we describe methods for induction of CML in mice with BCR-ABL.