Peculiarities of abnormal karyotypes formation in therapy-related acute leukemias.

AIM: To determine ways of formation of abnormal karyotypes in two clinical cases of secondary acute leukemias of myeloid and lymphoid lineages. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Bone marrow cells of one patient with therapy-related acute monoblastic/monocytic leukemia and one patient with therapy-related acute lymphoblastic leukemia were examined by cytogenetic GTG banding technique. RESULTS: An unusually large number of quantitative and structural anomalies of chromosomes in therapy-related acute monoblastic/monocytic leukemia have been established, which have many features in common with chromothripsis, namely instability of clones that manifested itself through quantitative anomalies (trisomy, monosomy, marker chromosomes, including chromosome 5), structural - t(9;11), deletions of the long arm of chromosomes 8 and 14, derivatives of chromosomes 3 and 7, ring chromosomes. In case of secondary acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the anomalous clone with balanced translocation in all 20 metaphase plates 46,XX,t(1;15)(p21;q24) has been registered, which is not described in the literature. Therefore, the diagnostic and prognostic value of such anomaly is unknown. CONCLUSIONS: Rearrangement with the involvement of the locus 11q23 was recorded in the case of chemotherapy treatment without topoisomerase II inhibitors. The complex karyotype formed after chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which is a criterion for an unfavorable prognosis of the disease, is considered as the equivalent of chromothripsis. t(1;15) is considered as an abnormality that can be attributed to the group of favorable secondary acute lymphoblastic leukemia prognosis.

Comparison of chromosomal rearrangements in bone marrow cells and blast transformed B-cells in relapse of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma.

AIM: The genetic mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapy in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (B-CLL/SLL) are not clear. We aimed to determine the peculiarities of abnormal karyotype formation in bone marrow (BM) cells and peripheral blood (PB) blast transformed B-cells in relapse of B-CLL/SLL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cytogenetic GTG banding technique and molecular cytogenetic in interphase cells (i-FISH) studies of BM cells and PB blast transformed B-lymphocytes were performed in 14 patients (10 males and 4 females) with B-CLL/SLL. RESULTS: The results of karyotyping BM and PB cells revealed the heterogeneity of cytogenetic abnormalities in combined single nosological group of B-CLL/SLL. In PB B-cells, chromosome abnormalities related to a poor prognosis group were registered 2.5 times more often than in BM cells. Additional near tetraploid clones that occurred in 57.1% cases were the peculiar feature of BM cell karyotypes. Chromosomal rearrangements characteristic of the group of adverse cytogenetic prognosis were revealed in all cases from which in 2 cases by karyotyping BM cells, in 6 cases in PB B-cells and in 8 cases by the i-FISH method in BM cells, i.e. their detection frequency was 3 times higher in PB B-cells and 4 times higher when analyzing by i-FISH in BM cells. CONCLUSIONS: Mismatch in abnormal karyotypes in BM and PB B-cells by the presence of quantitative and structural chromosomal rearrangements may be indicative of simultaneous and independent processes of abnormal clone formation in the lymph nodes and BM hematopoietic cells. Accumulation the information about previously unidentified chromosomal rearrangements in relapse of the disease may help to understand the ways of resistance formation to chemotherapy.

Loss of heterozygosity of individual loci in Arabidopsis thaliana regenerants cultured with para-fluorophenylalanine.

Precise chromosome segregation is vital for speciation and hybrid formation. The aim of the work was to study the chromosomes behaviour and inheritance of maternal and paternal genomes in Arabidopsis regenerants de-rived from in vitro cultured cells on the medium with PFFA. The Arabidopsis thaliana model hybrid between Columbia and Landsberg erecta ecotypes was developed, which chromosomes were easy to distinguish using the 12 SSLP selected markers. Also, the influence of PFFA on the callus formation and regeneration of plants was analysed. 20 regenerated plants cultured with PFFA were derived, three of which were shown to loss the heterozygosity in six loci by DNA markers analysis. Different models are certainly required to understand how and when the mechanisms leading to proper chromosome segregation are established in species and hybrids.

Alkaloid biosynthesis in Papaver sp. cells in culture and during organogenesis.

In vitro cell cultures of two Papaver species, P. somniferum and P. bracteatum initiated from mature seeds were screened for their ability to produce alkaloids. Protocols for callus induction, somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis were established. The alkaloid contents were analysed by high-performance-liquid chromatography, thin-layer chromatography and spectrophotometric assays. Undifferentiated callus produced small amounts of sanguinarine, which increased with the degree of tissue differentiation. Embryogenic calli were maintained in culture for more than 2 years, retaining a high regeneration capability. Thin-layer chromatography analysis revealed variations in alkaloid spectrum between parallel cell lines. The morphinan alkaloid, thebaine, was found to be accumulated exclusively in morphogenous strains of P. bracteatum, and morphine was the major alkaloid in the spectrum of P. somniferum dedifferentiated callus. Regenerant plants synthesized thebaine and sanguinarine at the same level as juvenile plants grown from P. bracteatum seeds. We revealed differences in the ability to produce different types of alkaloids: seed-derived plants were able to accumulate thebaine while undifferentiated primary cell cultures produced only sanguinarine. The production of either sanguinarine and morphinan alkaloids are found in regenerants showing that both metabolic pathways were active in young plantlets.