The etiology of childhood leukemia is currently being examined under large-scale epidemiology studies in the US and UK. The investigator proposes to examine the timing and etiology of the most frequent genetic aberrations in childhood acute lymphoblastic and myeloblastic leukemia (ALL and AML) by using molecular biology and bioinformatic tools and resources in patient diagnostic and archived materials. The investigator has previously shown that the most common translocation in childhood leukemia, t(12;21) (or TEL-AML1 gene fusion) can occur before birth in a small number of individuals who later developed childhood leukemia. These studies will be expanded and extended to an independent population in California. About 150 patients with specific aberrations, including t(12;21), t(1;19), t(8;21), and NRAS mutations, will be """"""""backtracked"""""""" by screening for the aberration in the neonatal heel-prick Guthrie spots that were taken at birth. The aberrations will first be characterized at the genomic DNA level, and then will be used as clonotypic markers in sensitive screening assays of Guthrie spots. In addition to this use as markers of leukemia cell clones, translocation fusion sequences provide insight into the processes that formed the fusion. TEL-AML1 fusion junctions tend to group into """"""""micro-clusters,"""""""" or distinct regions within the larger intronic breakpoint cluster regions. The micro-clustering is independent of the structure of the chimeric oncogenic protein, which is the same for all patients. Micro-clustering of breakpoints in certain areas suggests that features of the intrinsic DNA sequence or chromatin structure are critical in the process of formation of the translocation. These features will be probed by statistically based DNA sequence recognition tools along with a coordinated laboratory analysis to identify sequence motifs. A final goal of the project is to develop methods to sensitively track leukemia clones in treated patients in order to gauge the success of therapy. In summary, this project aims to elucidate the timing and structure of the genetic events that lead to childhood leukemia.
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| Francis, Stephen S; Selvin, Steve; Yang, Wei et al. (2012) Unusual space-time patterning of the Fallon, Nevada leukemia cluster: Evidence of an infectious etiology. Chem Biol Interact 196:102-9 |
| Diakos, Christofer; Zhong, Sheng; Xiao, Yuanyuan et al. (2010) TEL-AML1 regulation of survivin and apoptosis via miRNA-494 and miRNA-320a. Blood 116:4885-93 |
| Chang, Patrick; Kang, Michelle; Xiao, Anny et al. (2010) FLT3 mutation incidence and timing of origin in a population case series of pediatric leukemia. BMC Cancer 10:513 |
| Wiemels, Joseph L; Kang, Michelle; Chang, Jeffrey S et al. (2010) Backtracking RAS mutations in high hyperdiploid childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood Cells Mol Dis 45:186-91 |
| Score, J; Calasanz, M J; Ottman, O et al. (2010) Analysis of genomic breakpoints in p190 and p210 BCR-ABL indicate distinct mechanisms of formation. Leukemia 24:1742-50 |
| Felini, Martha J; Olshan, Andrew F; Schroeder, Jane C et al. (2009) Reproductive factors and hormone use and risk of adult gliomas. Cancer Causes Control 20:87-96 |
| Walz, C; Score, J; Mix, J et al. (2009) The molecular anatomy of the FIP1L1-PDGFRA fusion gene. Leukemia 23:271-8 |
| Chang, Jeffrey S; Wiemels, Joseph L; Buffler, Patricia A (2009) Allergies and childhood leukemia. Blood Cells Mol Dis 42:99-104 |
| Wiemels, Joseph; Kang, Michelle; Greaves, Mel (2009) Backtracking of leukemic clones to birth. Methods Mol Biol 538:7-27 |
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