title: Apaf1 in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) progression: reduced Apaf1 expression is correlated with a H179R p53 mutation during clinical blast crisis.
abstract: Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a stem cell disorder that eventually progresses to a blast crisis phase (BC) characterized by distorted apoptotic pathways. The exact mechanism leading to failure in apoptotic pathways during CML progression is unclear. In view of the central role of p53 and apaf1 in the apoptotic machinery we examined six human paired chronic and BC phases samples for their expression. Real-time PCR (RQ-PCR) experiments showed an elevation of p53 mRNA in all patients during transition to BC. However, elevation of apaf1 during BC was observed in five patients only. In contrast, one patient displayed a significant 11.5-fold reduction of apaf1 expression during the transition to BC. No apaf1 promoter methylation was observed. The reduced apaf1 expression was accompanied by a trans-dominant point mutation (H179R) in one p53 allele and the loss of the other. This mutant p53, when tested using functionality assays, was unable to activate apaf1, consequently explaining the reduced expression observed in this patient. Furthermore, the same mutant failed to activate either genes involved in apoptotic or cell cycle arrest pathways, and can be considered as a complete loss of function mutation. This specific mutation was reported in several types of cancer, but was not implicated in CML. To conclude, in this study we have demonstrated mRNA elevation of p53 and apaf1 during CML blast crisis, indicating that genes and proteins involved in cellular apoptosis might be involved in disease progression/response to therapy. Moreover, the mutated p53 discovered in the patient exhibiting lowered apaf1 expression provides, in a clinical case, the first correlation between p53 and apaf1 transcription regulation in humans.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Center, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Osnat
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ashur-Fabian
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adamsky
authors.forename: Luba
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trakhtenbrot
authors.forename: Yoram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raanani
authors.forename: Izhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hardan
authors.forename: Arnon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagler
authors.forename: Gideon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rechavi
authors.forename: Ninette
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Amariglio
mesh_terms: D053477:Apoptotic Protease-Activating Factor 1 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D001120:Arginine / Q000235:genetics; D001752:Blast Crisis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015973:Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic / Q000502:physiology*; D006639:Histidine / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017354:Point Mutation; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D053477:Apoptotic Protease-Activating Factor 1; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D006639:Histidine; D001120:Arginine