期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1991
卷号:88
期号:5
页码:1977-1981
DOI:10.1073/pnas.88.5.1977
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Acute promyelocytic leukemias (APLs) are characterized by a reciprocal balanced translocation that involves chromosomes 15 and 17 [t(15;17)]. We report the isolation and characterization of one of the two reciprocal break sites and demonstrate that the chromosome 17 breakpoint lies within the retinoic acid receptor alpha locus. Nucleotide sequencing of the 15;17 cross-over junction on 15q+ showed that the retinoic acid receptor alpha gene is truncated within its first intron, 370 base pairs upstream from the splicing donor site of exon II. Such a recombination would be expected to generate abnormal RAR alpha mRNA and protein. Southern blot analysis of a number of APLs with chromosome 15- and 17-derived DNA probes revealed similar 15;17 recombinations in the majority of other APLs. Our data are strong evidence that the retinoic acid receptor alpha gene plays a crucial role in the leukemogenesis of APL.