title: T-cell receptor beta-chain gene expression in B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: The T-cell receptor beta-chain (T beta) gene expression was examined in 16 children with B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including eight patients with rearrangement of the T beta gene as well as immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain gene rearrangement. In contrast to the 1.3 kb full-length transcripts of the T beta observed in T-lineage leukemia and lymphoma cells, no transcript of the T beta gene was detected in 10 patients, including four with T beta gene rearrangement. Low levels of T beta transcripts were found in three patients with T beta gene rearrangement and two patients without T beta gene rearrangement, but those transcripts were truncated. In contrast to those findings, a single patient with T beta gene rearrangement showed abundant 1.3 kb T beta transcripts. These data indicate that T beta gene expression is not restricted to T-lineage cells and demonstrate the heterogeneity of B-lineage ALL at the expression level of the T beta gene. Our findings also suggest that T beta gene expression is not always accompanied with T beta gene rearrangement.
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002460:Cell Line; D002648:Child; D005796:Genes; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006801:Humans; D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D007127:Immunoglobulin Constant Regions; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell