title: Evaluation of Structural Factors Potentially Implicated in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A report of the MIGICCL.
abstract: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in the pediatric population; ∼80% of the cases show some translocation. Translocations that result in ALL are due to chromosome breaks. However, the exact mechanisms that cause these breaks have not been well studied. A detailed search of the breakpoints associated with ALL reported in the NCBI database shows that some are concentrated in limited regions of the chromosome, whereas others are scattered throughout. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the structural factors involved in chromosomal breaks in ALL.
  
  
  
  We performed several bioinformatic studies on the sequences where chromosomal breakpoints have been reported in search of rearrangements: areas of high similarity, thermodynamic stability, composition and conformation of the DNA.
  
  
  
  Certain factors may influence chromosome breaks and are capable of predicting the propensity towards these types of events.
  
  
  
  These findings may be useful in the design of molecular techniques able to detect these changes in ALL.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Investigación Médica en Epidemiologia Clínica, Hospital de Pediatría, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México.
authors.forename: Dulce María
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: López-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Laboratorio de Bioinformática y Biotecnología Genómica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Méndez-Tenorio
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Laboratorio de Bioinformática y Biotecnología Genómica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México.
authors.forename: Jorge Alberto
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Roacho-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Unidad Habilitada de Apoyo al Pre-dictamen, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de México, México. Electronic address: ragn62@prodigy.net.mx.
authors.forename: Angélica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rangel-López
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D019295:Computational Biology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics*; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
keywords: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia; Chromosomal breaks; Chromosomal translocation