Loss-of-function mutations in telomerase complex genes can cause bone marrow failure, dyskeratosis congenita, and acquired aplastic anemia, both diseases that predispose to acute myeloid leukemia. Loss of telomerase function produces short telomeres, potentially resulting in chromosome recombination, end-to-end fusion, and recognition as damaged DNA. We investigated whether mutations in telomerase genes also occur in acute myeloid leukemia. We screened bone marrow samples from 133 consecutive patients with acute myeloid leukemia and 198 controls for variations in TERT and TERC genes. An additional 89 patients from a second cohort, selected based on cytogenetic status, and 528 controls were further examined for mutations. A third cohort of 372 patients and 384 controls were specifically tested for one TERT gene variant. In the first cohort, 11 patients carried missense TERT gene variants that were not present in controls (P < 0.0001); in the second cohort, TERT mutations were associated with trisomy 8 and inversion 16. Mutation germ-line origin was demonstrated in 5 patients from whom other tissues were available. Analysis of all 3 cohorts (n ‫؍‬ 594) for the most common gene variant (A1062T) indicated a prevalence 3 times higher in patients than in controls (n ‫؍‬ 1,110; P ‫؍‬ 0.0009). Introduction of TERT mutants into telomerasedeficient cells resulted in loss of enzymatic activity by haploinsufficiency. Inherited mutations in TERT that reduce telomerase activity are risk factors for acute myeloid leukemia. We propose that short and dysfunctional telomeres limit normal stem cell proliferation and predispose for leukemia by selection of stem cells with defective DNA damage responses that are prone to genome instability.risk factor ͉ telomere ͉ dyskeratosis congenita ͉ cancer

Summary. We have determined the prevalence of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) mutations C677T and A1298C in 71 children (< 15 years) with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and in 71 control subjects. Odds ratio (OR) for ALL linked to MTHFR C677T was 0´4 (95% CI 0´2±0´8); for heterozygotes it was 0´5 (95% CI 0´2±0´9) and for homozygotes it was 0´3 (95%CI 0´09± 0´8). MTHFR A1298C yielded an overall OR for ALL of 1´3 (95% CI: 0´7±2´6); for heterozygotes it was 1´3 (95% CI: 0´7±7´6) and for homozygotes it was 2´8 (95% CI 0´5± 15´6). In conclusion, MTHFR C677T was linked to a significant 2´4-fold decreased risk of developing childhood ALL, whereas MTHFR A1298C did not significantly affect the risk of ALL in our population.

Summary Microarray studies have revealed the differential expression of several genes in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), but it is unknown which of these differences are dependent on the transformed MCL cell itself or on the tumour microenvironment. To investigate which genes and signalling pathways are aberrantly expressed in MCL cells we used oligonucleotide microarrays to perform gene expression profiling of both purified leukaemic MCL cells and their normal counterparts, the naive B cells. A total of 106 genes were differentially expressed at least threefold in MCL cells compared with naive B cells; 63 upregulated and 43 downregulated. To validate the microarray results in a larger set of samples, we selected 10 differentially expressed genes and quantified their expression by real‐time polymerase chain reaction in peripheral blood of MCL patients (n = 21), purified MCL cells (n = 6) and naive B cells (n = 4), obtaining fully concordant results. A computer‐assisted approach was used to procure specific molecular signalling pathways that were aberrantly expressed in MCL cells. Several genes related to apoptosis and to the PI3K/AKT, WNT and tumour growth factor β signalling pathways were altered in MCL cells when compared with naive B cells. These pathways may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of MCL and deserve further investigation as candidates for new therapeutic targets.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small endogenous RNAs that play important regulatory roles by targeting mRNAs for cleavage or translational repression. miRNAs act in diverse biological processes including development, cell growth, apoptosis, and hematopoiesis, suggesting their association with cancer. We determined the miRNA expression profile of chronic and acute lymphocytic leukemias (CLL and ALL) using the TaqMan ® MicroRNA Assays Human Panel (Applied Biosystems). Pooled leukemia samples were compared to pooled CD19 + samples from healthy individuals (calibrator) by the 2 -∆∆Ct method. Total RNA input was normalized based on the Ct values obtained for hsa-miR-30b. The five most highly expressed miRNAs were miR-128b, miR-204, miR-218, miR-331, and miR181b-1 in ALL, and miR-331, miR-29a, miR-195, miR-34a, and miR29c in CLL. To our knowledge, this is the first report associating miR128b, miR-204 and miR-331 to hematological malignancies. The miR-17-92 cluster was also found to be up-regulated in ALL, as previously reported for some types of lymphomas. The differences observed in gene expression levels were validated for miR-331 and miR-128b in ALL and CD19 + samples. These miRNAs were upregulated in ALL, in agreement with our initial results. A brief target analysis was performed for miR-331. One of its putative targets, SOCS1, promotes STAT activation, which is a known mediator of cell proliferation and survival, suggesting the possibility of an association between miR-331 and these processes. This initial screening provided information on miRNA differentially expressed in normal and malignant B-cells that could suggest the potential roles of these miRNAs in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis.