Children with Down syndrome (DS) are susceptible to two blood disorders, transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM) and syndrome-associated acute megakaryocytic leukemia (DS-AMKL). Mutations in GATA binding protein 1 ( GATA1 ) have been identified as the cause of these diseases, expression levels resulting protein, short-form (GATA1s), known correlate severity TAM. On other hand, despite presence mu...

Recent studies identified an interaction between the Polymerase Associated Factor complex (PAFc) and Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL), including MLL-rearranged oncoproteins. This interaction is critical for MLL transcriptional activity and MLL-rearranged leukemogenesis. Here, we discuss the potential molecular role of the PAFc in transcriptional dysregulation of MLL target genes and the interplay b...

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in the western world and is a very clinically heterogeneous disease for which better prognostic biomarkers are needed. Current prognostic markers exhibit both biological and technical limitations. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous, non-coding 22-nucleotide regulatory RNAs that have been shown to modulate hematopoietic lineage ...

The German Multicenter Study Group for Adult Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia (GMALL) has conducted 5 consecutive trials with more than 3000 patients since 1981. This article provides an overview on aims, treatment concepts, and results of these studies. It includes brief summaries on the development of prognostic models within the GMALL group and on approaches for prophylaxis of CNS relapse, and i...

Chromosomal translocations involving the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene are associated with aggressive acute lymphoid and myeloid leukemias. These translocations are restricted to an 8.3-kb breakpoint region resulting in fusion of amino terminal MLL sequences in frame to 1 of more than 60 different translocation partners. The translocations consistently delete the plant homeodomain (PHD) fin...

Systemic mastocytosis with associated clonal haematological non-mast cell lineage disease (SM-AHNMD) is a heterogeneous group of mast cell disorders with different clinical, pathologic and underlying molecular characteristics. While myelomonocytic/myeloid neoplasia overwhelmingly predominates the AHNMD component, lymphoproliferative disorders rarely occur as an AHNMD component of SM-AHNMD. Here...

We describe a patient with acute leukemia of ambiguous lineage who had trisomy 4 as the sole cytogenetic abnormality. Clinical, pathological, immunophenotypic and molecular features are presented and compared with the previous 4 published cases. Over expression of c-kit, which is localized to chromosome 4, was documented on the leukemic blasts. Prognosis seems to be poor. Treatment with acute l...

Six cases of acute leukemia that underwent lineage switch from acute lymphocytic leukemia to acute myelogenous leukemia are reported. The mean age of the patients was 24 years. time to conversion was 36 months. and survival after conversion was only 3 months. Of the three cases which showed abnormal metaphases at both diagnosis and conversion. two (cases 2. 5) showed related cytogenetic abnorma...

Serum-free mouse embryo (SFME) cells, the astrocyte progenitor cells in the central nervous system (CNS), were exposed to 10 ng/ml leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and 10 ng/ml bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP2) to induce differentiation, and expression of cell-type specific markers. Nestin, a marker of early neural lineage, betaIII-tubulin, a marker of neuronal lineage, oligodendrocyte marker O...