No genomic aberrations in Langerhans cell histiocytosis as assessed by diverse molecular technologies.

The etiology of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), a disease characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of Langerhans cells, is unknown. Although some believe that LCH is reactive, others support a neoplastic origin. We tested the hypothesis that LCH is neoplastic by investigating potential consistent chromosomal aberrations in LCH cells. We used multiparameter DNA flow cytometry to analyze the DNA ploidy LCH cells in 20 cases, performed karyotype analysis in 31 cases, array-based comparative genomic hybridization (arrayCGH) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays with DNA from flow-sorted CD1a-positive and CD1a-negative cells in 19 cases. Ploidy analysis revealed diploid DNA content in all cases. The karyotype of all patients analyzed was normal, excluding the presence of balanced translocations. ArrayCGH and SNP arrays did not show genome abnormalities. Despite positive TP53 protein immunohistochemical staining, sequencing of exon 5 to 8 of p53 gene showed no alterations in 7 cases. This study strongly suggests that gross chromosomal abnormalities do not cause LCH. Although we cannot exclude cryptic point mutations in as yet unidentified genes, this study of 72 LCH cases shows that LCH may be the result of restricted oligoclonal stimulation rather than unlimited neoplastic proliferation. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Deregulation of cyclin D2 by juxtaposition with T-cell receptor alpha/delta locus in t(12;14)(p13;q11)-positive childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

OBJECTIVES: The t(12;14)(p13;q11)--a recurrent translocation in childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL)--has very recently been molecularly characterized in one case, which displayed overexpression of the cyclin D2 gene (CCND2). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have characterized two pediatric t(12;14)-positive T-ALLs using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), cDNA microarray, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: FISH revealed breakpoints (BPs) in the T-cell receptor alpha/delta locus (14q11) and in the vicinity of the CCND2 gene at 12p13. To investigate the expression of genes in 12p13, cDNA microarray analysis was performed. Expression data for eight genes, including CCND2, surrounding the 12p BP were compared with those in other T-ALLs. The t(12;14)-positive T-ALL displayed an increased expression of CCND2 compared to the controls, whereas the expression of the other genes was similar in all T-ALLs. Expression of CCND2 and two additional genes (PARP11 and FGF23), close to the 12p BP, was investigated with real-time PCR of the two t(12;14)-positive cases and four controls. Neither PARP11 nor FGF23 displayed expression differences among the T-ALLs, whereas CCND2 was clearly overexpressed in both t(12;14)-positive cases as compared to the mean expression level in the controls. CONCLUSION: We have confirmed, in two additional cases, that the recurrent T-ALL-associated t(12;14) results in overexpression of cyclin D2. The t(12;14) is the first neoplasia-associated translocation shown to result in overexpression of cyclin D2. Furthermore, it is the first example of a T-cell neoplasm with a targeted deregulation of a member of a cyclin-encoding gene family.

Deficiency of oncoretrovirally transduced hematopoietic stem cells and correction through ex vivo expansion.

BACKGROUND: Extensive efforts to develop hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) based gene therapy have been hampered by low gene marking. Major emphasis has so far been directed at improving gene transfer efficiency, but low gene marking in transplanted recipients might equally well reflect compromised repopulating activity of transduced cells, competing for reconstitution with endogenous and unmanipulated stem cells. METHODS: The autologous settings of clinical gene therapy protocols preclude evaluation of changes in repopulating ability following transduction; however, using a congenic mouse model, allowing for direct evaluation of gene marking of lympho-myeloid progeny, we show here that these issues can be accurately addressed. RESULTS: We demonstrate that conditions supporting in vitro stem cell self-renewal efficiently promote oncoretroviral-mediated gene transfer to multipotent adult bone marrow stem cells, without prior in vivo conditioning. Despite using optimized culture conditions, transduction resulted in striking losses of repopulating activity, translating into low numbers of gene marked cells in competitively repopulated mice. Subjecting transduced HSCs to an ex vivo expansion protocol following the transduction procedure could partially reverse this loss. CONCLUSIONS: These studies suggest that loss of repopulating ability of transduced HSCs rather than low gene transfer efficiency might be the main problem in clinical gene therapy protocols, and that a clinically feasible ex vivo expansion approach post-transduction can markedly improve reconstitution with gene marked stem cells.

Efficient oncoretroviral transduction of extended long-term culture-initiating cells and NOD/SCID repopulating cells: enhanced reconstitution with gene-marked cells through an ex vivo expansion approach.

Recent developments of surrogate assays for human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) have facilitated efforts at improving HSC gene transfer efficiency. Through the use of xenograft transplantation models, such as nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) mice, successful oncoretroviral gene transfer to transplantable hematopoietic cells has been achieved. However, because of the low frequency and/or homing efficiency of SCID repopulating cells (SRC) in bone marrow (BM), studies have primarily focused on cord blood (CB). The recently developed extended (> 60 days) long-term culture-initiating cell (ELTC-IC) assay detects an infrequent and highly quiescent candidate stem cell population in BM as well as CB of the CD34(+)CD38(-) phenotype. Although these characteristics suggest that ELTC-IC and SRC might be closely related, attempts to oncoretrovirally transduce ELTC-IC have been unsuccessful. Here, recently developed conditions (high concentrations of SCF + FL + Tpo in serum-free medium) supporting expansion of BM CD34(+)CD38(-) 12 week ELTC-IC promoted efficient oncoretroviral transduction of BM and CB ELTC-IC. Although SRC can be transduced with oncoretroviral vectors, this is frequently associated with loss of reconstituting activity, posing a problem for development of clinical HSC gene therapy. However, previous attempts at expanding transduced HSC posttransduction resulted in compromised rather than improved gene marking. Utilizing conditions promoting cell divisions and transduction of ELTC-IC we show that although 5 days of ex vivo culture is sufficient to obtain maximum gene transfer efficiency to SRC, extension of the expansion period to 12 days significantly enhances multilineage reconstitution activity of transduced SRC, supporting the feasibility of improving gene marking through ex vivo expansion.