Predominance of fetal type DJH joining in young children with B precursor lymphoblastic leukemia as evidence for an in utero transforming event.
The presence of N sequences in the complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) of the rearranged immunoglobulin H chain is developmentally regulated: N regions are generally present in the DJH joinings of adult B cells but are often absent in fetal B cells. Analysis of the CDR3 in 61 B precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemias indicated that 87.5% of the leukemias obtained from children < or = 3 yr old lacked N regions at the DJH junction. In contrast, in children > 3 yr old, only 11.1% of the leukemias lacked N regions at this junction, a frequency similar to what we have observed in B cells from children and adults. These findings suggest that the majority of leukemias presenting within the first 3 yr of age arise from an in utero transforming event.
Wasserman
R
R
Division of Oncology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Galili
N
N
Ito
Y
Y
Reichard
B A
BA
Shane
S
S
Rovera
G
G
D000328:Adult; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005333:Fetus; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D006801:Humans; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007133:Immunoglobulin Joining Region / Q000235:genetics*; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics*; D007223:Infant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology
D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007133:Immunoglobulin Joining Region; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D004247:DNA