title: Frequent co-expression of HoxA9 and Meis1 genes in infant acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with MLL rearrangement.
abstract: We studied the expression of HoxA9 and Meis1 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis in leukaemic cells from cases of infant acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL, n = 27) and childhood ALL (n = 29). These two genes were co-expressed significantly more frequently in infant ALL than in childhood ALL (19/27 vs0/29 cases, P < 0.001) and were highly associated with MLL gene rearrangement in infant ALL cases (P < 0.001). These findings indicate that the HoxA9 and Meis1 genes are closely associated with MLL gene rearrangement in the development of infant ALL, which represents a distinct entity of childhood ALL.
mesh_terms: D002880:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11 / Q000235:genetics; D002894:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 / Q000235:genetics; D002899:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9 / Q000235:genetics; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D000075064:Myeloid Ecotropic Viral Integration Site 1 Protein; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C000616391:MEIS1 protein, human; D000075064:Myeloid Ecotropic Viral Integration Site 1 Protein; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C097899:homeobox protein HOXA9