Molecular landscape of the JAK2 gene in chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm patients from the state of Amazonas, Brazil.

ABSTRACT

JAK2V617F (dbSNP rs77375493) is the most frequent and most-studied variant in BCRABL1 negative myeloproliferative neoplasms and in the JAK2 gene. The present study aimed to molecularly characterize variants in the complete coding region of the JAK2 gene in patients with BCRABL1 negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms. The study included 97 patients with BCRABL1 negative myeloproliferative neoplasms, including polycythemia vera (n=38), essential thrombocythemia (n=55), and myelofibrosis (n=04). Molecular evaluation was performed using conventional PCR and Sanger sequencing to detect variants in the complete coding region of the JAK2 gene. The presence of missense variants in the JAK2 gene including rs907414891, rs2230723, rs77375493 (JAK2V617F), and rs41316003 were identified. The coexistence of variants was detected in polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia. Thus, individuals with high JAK2V617F variant allele frequency (≥50% VAF) presented more thrombo-hemorrhagic events and manifestations of splenomegaly compared with those with low JAK2V617F variant allele frequency (<50% VAF). In conclusion, individuals with BCRABL1 negative neoplasms can display >1 variant in the JAK2 gene, especially rs2230722, rs2230724, and rs77375493 variants, and those with high JAK2V617F VAF show alterations in the clinical-laboratory profile compared with those with low JAK2V617F VAF.