Persistence of immunoglobulin heavy chain/c-myc recombination-positive lymphocyte clones in the blood of human immunodeficiency virus-infected homosexual men.
We studied blood lymphocytes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive and -negative homosexual men for the presence of T(8;14) translocations that recombine c-myc and immunoglobulin heavy-chain (IgH) mu/IgH alpha switch regions. Clones with T(8;14) translocations were detected in 10.5% (12/114) of the HIV-positive and in 2.0% of the 99 uninfected patients. The majority of recombinations were found at a single time point only. Four patients, however, harbored multiple (up to four) and persistent (up to 9 years) translocation-positive cell clones. No correlation between the presence of these aberrant lymphocytes and a later lymphoma could be established. The exon 1/intron 1 region of the recombined c-myc was investigated for the presence of point mutations and these were found in the nonpersistent clones. Additional alterations detected in these clones included duplications and a deletion in the c-myc gene. The pattern of base substitution indicates that they were introduced after the translocation event.
Müller
J R
JR
Laboratory of Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Janz
S
S
Goedert
J J
JJ
Potter
M
M
Rabkin
C S
CS
D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002883:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 14; D002898:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8; D002999:Clone Cells; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017931:DNA Primers; D016259:Genes, myc; D018023:HIV Seronegativity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
D017931:DNA Primers; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains