PDCD2, a protein whose expression is repressed by BCL6, induces apoptosis in human cells by activation of the caspase cascade.

We have previously reported that the human programmed cell death-2 gene (PDCD2), a target of BCL6 repression, is likely to be important in the pathogenesis of certain human lymphomas. We now demonstrate that transfection of a construct expressing PDCD2 induces apoptosis in human cell lines, that this occurs, at least in part, through activation of the caspase cascade, and, furthermore, that caspase inhibitors block this effect. Immunohistochemical studies in human benign lymphoid and lymphoma tissues support these findings.

A novel method for single cell detection of in situ telomerase or histone H3 in combination with clonal analysis by FISH.

A novel method for simultaneously detecting clonality by FISH, and presence of telomerase activity (telo+ cells) or histone H3 mRNA (H3+) in single cells from a mixed leukemic population is reported. The methods were validated using K562 cells mixed with peripheral blood granulocytes and bone marrow aspirate cells from newly diagnosed AML patients. Fifty patients with AML were analyzed for telo+ cells, while eight AML patients were analyzed for FISH-Telomerase and FISH-H3+ during remission induction therapy.