Characterization of the translocation breakpoint sequences of two DEK-CAN fusion genes present in t(6;9) acute myeloid leukemia and a SET-CAN fusion gene found in a case of acute undifferentiated leukemia

✍ Scribed by Marieke Von Lindern; Dimitri Breems; Sjozèf Van Baal; Henk Adriaansen; Gerard Grosveld

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 785 KB
• Volume: 5
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1045-2257
• DOI: 10.1002/gcc.2870050309

✦ Synopsis

The t(6;9) associated with a subtype of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was shown t o generate a fusion between the 3' part of the CAN gene on chromosome 9 and the 5' part of the DEK gene on chromosome 6. The same part of the CAN gene appeared t o be involved in a case of acute undifferentiated leukemia (AUL) as well, where it was fused t o the SET gene. Genomic sequences around the translocation breakpoint were determined in two t(6;9) samples and in the case of the SET-CAN fusion.

Although coexpression of myeloid markers and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase was shown to be one of the characteristics of t(6;9) AML, no addition of random nucleotides at the translocation breakpoint could be found. In addition, the breakpoint regions did not reveal heptamer-nonamer sequences, purine-pyrimidine tracts, a chi-octamer motif, or A h repeats. The sequence in which the translocation breakpoints occurred was enriched in A/T. Notably, the specific introns in which clustering of breakpoints occurs in DEK and CAN both contain a LINE-I element. As LINE-I elements occur with a moderate frequency in the human genome, the presence of such an element in both breakpoint regions may be more than coincidental and may play a role in the translocation process. Genes Chrorn Cancer 5227-234 (1992).