Chromosome translocations: good genes gone wrong

Cytogenetic analysis of tumor cells has revealed that recurring chromosome abnormalities are present in many tumors. In the leukemias, lymphomas, sarcomas, these abnormalities are frequently translocations or less often inversions which are closely associated with particular morphologic subtypes of these tumors. Rearrangements involving chromosome band 11q23 are common in acute leukemia, both lymphoblastic and myeloid (monoblastic), and are less common in lymphoma. Although several different genes have been cloned from 11q23 translocation breakpoints, the great majority involve the MLL (myeloid-lymphoid leukemia) gene. The MLL gene has several different names, ALL1, Htrx, HRX; the central part of the gene codes for multiple zinc fingers which show homology to the Drosophila trithorax gene. About 70% of infants with acute leukemia will have MLL rearrangements. MLL is involved in five common translocations as well as in 25 uncommon or rare translocations, insertions and deletions. The translocation breakpoints occur within an 8.3 kb region which can be detected with a 0.74 kb cDNA probe. Twenty-five percent of patients have a deletion 3' of the breakpoint which includes the zinc finger region. Patients who previously received drugs that inhibit topoisomerase II often develop acute leukemia with translocations involving 11q23. These translocations break MLL in the same 8.3 kb region. In the breakpoints cloned to date, the translocation leads to a fusion gene on the derivative 11 chromosome with a chimeric transcript, consisting of 5' MLL and the 3' segment of the other gene. The molecular dissection of these arrangements will provide insights into the biology of MLL and into the interaction of MLL with topoisomerase II inhibitors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)