title: Analysis of the CHK2 gene in lymphoid malignancies.
abstract: The CHK2 gene encodes a protein kinase that is important for the regulation of cell cycle arrest after DNA damage. CHK2 acts downstream of ataxia teleangiecstasia mutated (ATM), modulates the function of p53 and may help mediate cell cycle arrest at G2/M by phosphorylation of Cdc25C. Recently, the human homolog of the checkpoint kinase Cds1 (CHK2) has been suggested to be a tumor suppressor gene. Heterozygous germline mutations have been reported in Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), a highly penetrant familial cancer phenotype, and in sporadic colon cancer. LFS is associated with the development of lymphoid malignancies, especially childhood ALL. Therefore, we analyzed the DNA from 143 lymphoid malignancies to determine whether they had mutations of the CHK2 gene. The 14 exons of CHK2 were studied by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and sequencing of aberrantly migrating bands. One missense mutation changing serine to phenylalanine (codon 428) in an evolutionarily highly conserved domain was found in a non-Hodgkin's aggressive lymphoma. Another point mutation in the non-coding region was identified in one of adult T-cell leukemias (ATL) samples. This result suggests that mutation of the CHK2 gene may rarely be involved in the development of selected lymphomas.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology/Oncology, Cedars-Sinai Research Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, 8700 Beverly Blvd, D-5068, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA. tavorsigal@yahoo.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tavor
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukasaki
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikezoe
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Said
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Koeffler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D064447:Checkpoint Kinase 2; D002648:Child; D003062:Codon; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D011494:Protein Kinases; D064447:Checkpoint Kinase 2; C578634:CHEK2 protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases