Mll-AF9 induced changes in gene expression in various hematopoietic cells

The pathways by which oncogenes, such as MLL-AF9, initiate transformation and leukemia in humans and mice are incompletely defined. In a study of target cells and oncogene dosage, we found that Mll-AF9, when under endogenous regulatory control, efficiently transformed LSK (Lin- Sca1+ c-kit+) stem cells while committed granulocyte-monocyte progenitors (GMPs) were transformation-resistant and did not cause leukemia. Mll-AF9 was expressed at higher levels in hematopoietic stem (HSC) than GMP cells. Mll- AF9 gene dosage effects were directly shown in experiments where GMPs were efficiently transformed by the high dosage of Mll-AF9 resulting from retroviral transduction. Mll-AF9 up-regulated expression of 196 genes in both LSK and progenitor cells, but to higher levels in LSKs than in committed myeloid progenitors.

51

Chen W, Kumar AR, Hudson WA, Li Q, Wu B, Staggs RA, Lund EA, Sam TN, Kersey JH