Different isoforms of the B-cell mutator activation-induced cytidine deaminase are aberrantly expressed in BCR-ABL1-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients

Leukemia. 2010 Jan;24(1):66-73. doi: 10.1038/leu.2009.197. Epub 2009 Sep 17.

Abstract

The main reason for the unfavorable clinical outcome of BCR-ABL1-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is genetic instability. However, how normal B-cell precursors acquire the genetic changes that lead to transformation has not yet been completely defined. We investigated the expression of the activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) and its role in clinical outcome in 61 adult BCR-ABL1-positive ALL patients. AID expression was detected in 36 patients (59%); it correlated with the BCR-ABL1 transcript levels and disappeared after treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Different AID splice variants were identified: full-length isoform; AIDDeltaE4a, with a 30-bp deletion of exon 4; AIDDeltaE4, with the exon 4 deletion; AIDins3, with the retention of intron 3; AIDDeltaE3-E4 isoform without deaminase activity. AID-FL predominantly showed cytoplasmic localization, as did the AID-DeltaE4a and AID-DeltaE3E4 variants, whereas the C-terminal-truncated AID-DeltaE4 showed a slightly increased nuclear localization pattern. AID expression correlated with a higher number of copy number alterations identified in genome-wide analysis using a single-nucleotide polymorphism array. However, the expression of AID at diagnosis was not associated with a worse prognosis. In conclusion, BCR-ABL1-positive ALL cells aberrantly express different isoforms of AID that may act as mutators outside the immunoglobulin (Ig) gene loci in promoting genetic instability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alternative Splicing
  • Cytidine Deaminase / genetics*
  • Cytidine Deaminase / physiology
  • DNA Breaks, Single-Stranded
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / analysis*
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / genetics
  • Genes, Immunoglobulin
  • Humans
  • Isoenzymes / genetics*
  • Middle Aged
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / enzymology*
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / genetics
  • Prognosis
  • RNA, Messenger / analysis

Substances

  • Isoenzymes
  • RNA, Messenger
  • abl-bcr fusion protein, human
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl
  • AICDA (activation-induced cytidine deaminase)
  • Cytidine Deaminase