Involvement of the <i>bcl</i> -2 Gene in Human Follicular Lymphoma

TLDR

Follicular lymphoma breakpoints cluster within a ~2.1‑kb region of chromosome 18q21. The study cloned recombinant DNA probes flanking chromosome 18 breakpoints in a B‑cell leukemia line with t(14;18). The probes identified DNA rearrangements in ~60 % of follicular lymphomas, detected 6‑kb bcl‑2 transcripts, and revealed that the bcl‑2 gene is frequently disrupted in tumors with t(14;18).

Abstract

Recombinant DNA probes were cloned for the areas flanking the breakpoint on chromosome 18 in cells from a patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia of the B-cell type; cells of this line carry the t(14;18) chromosomal translocation. Two of the probes detected DNA rearrangements in approximately 60 percent of the cases of follicular lymphoma screened. In follicular lymphoma, most of the breakpoints in band q21 of chromosome 18 were clustered within a short stretch of DNA, approximately 2.1 kilobases in length. Chromosome 18-specific DNA probes for the areas flanking the breakpoints also detected RNA transcripts 6 kilobases in length in various cell types. The gene coding for these transcripts (the bcl -2 gene) seems to be interrupted in most cases of follicular lymphomas carrying the t(14;18) chromosomal translocation.