Chronic versus acute myelogenous leukemia: a question of self-renewal.
Leukemia stem cells are defined as transformed hematopoietic stem cells or committed progenitor cells that have amplified or acquired the stem cell capacity for self-renewal, albeit in a poorly regulated fashion. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Huntly and colleagues report a striking difference in the ability of two leukemia-associated fusion proteins, MOZ-TIF2 and BCR-ABL, to transform myeloid progenitor populations. This rigorous study supports the idea of a hierarchy among leukemia-associated protooncogenes for their ability to endow committed myeloid progenitors with the self-renewal capacity driving leukemic stem cell propagation, and sheds new light on the pathogenesis of chronic and acute myelogenous leukemias.
Jamieson
Catriona H M
CH
Institute of Cancer and Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, Departments of Pathology and Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Weissman
Irving L
IL
Passegué
Emmanuelle
E
D000208:Acute Disease; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D023461:Myeloid Progenitor Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051788:Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051176:beta Catenin
C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C425207:MLL-ENL oncoprotein, human; C475973:MOZ-TIF2 protein, human; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051176:beta Catenin; D051788:Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein; D016044:Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl