Frequent somatic mutations in D and/or JH segments of Ig gene in Waldenström's macroglobulinemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with Richter's syndrome but not in common CLL.
V(D)J recombination and somatic hypermutations are developmentally regulated during B-cell differentiation; therefore, DNA analysis of the Ig gene delineates the cellular origin of B-cell neoplasms. We analyzed the third complementarity-determining region and adjacent regions of the Ig heavy-chain gene of tumor cells from 7 patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (WM) and from 10 patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), 2 of whom progressed to high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), ie, Richter's syndrome (RS). There were no intraclonal variations resulting from VH replacements or ongoing somatic mutations in both WM and CLL. We found replacement mutations in the D and/or JH segments in all patients with WM and in 4 of the 10 patients with CLL, including the 2 RS patients. Replacement mutations were clustered in codon 102 of the JH segment. Preferential utilization of the JH4 gene was found in WM (5 of 7 [71.4%]) and in CLL (7 of 10 [70.0%]), and DXP family genes in CLL (5 of 10 [50.0%]). In conclusion, WM and CLL with RS are generated under the influence of antigenic stimulation and selection. However, the majority of CLL may arise from a distinct subpopulation that has the restricted repertoire of nonmutated Ig genes.
Aoki
H
H
First Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima, Japan.
Takishita
M
M
Kosaka
M
M
Saito
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003062:Codon; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015326:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Heavy Chain; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D006801:Humans; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007144:Immunoglobulin J-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007138:Immunoglobulin delta-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013577:Syndrome; D008258:Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia / Q000235:genetics*
D003062:Codon; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007144:Immunoglobulin J-Chains; D007138:Immunoglobulin delta-Chains