title: T cell gamma gene rearrangements in hematologic neoplasms.
abstract: Rearrangements of the T cell gamma (T gamma) gene were studied in primary neoplastic cells from 75 patients with leukemia or lymphoma. T gamma gene rearrangements were observed in 19 of 21 T cell neoplasms; 14 of 21 immature B cell leukemias, including 4 out of 5 patients with rearrangements of both immunoglobulin heavy-chain (JH) and T cell receptor beta chain (T beta) genes; none out of 16 nonlymphoid leukemias. Thus, T gamma gene rearrangement is frequently found in immature B cells and is not always found in T cells showing T beta gene rearrangement, but it is not detected in nonlymphoid cells. Furthermore, T gamma gene rearrangement in cells with the germline configuration of the JH and T beta genes was observed. These results indicate that the detection of T gamma gene rearrangement does not allow a clear assignment to a particular lineage. However, an analysis of T gamma gene rearrangement provides a further potential tool to establish the lymphoid cellular origin and clonality of hematologic neoplasms and identify the normal stages of lymphocyte differentiation.
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000032:analysis; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000235:genetics*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000235:genetics*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta