Clonal relationship between Hashimoto thyroiditis and thyroid lymphoma.

Background: Although Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) is a predisposing factor for B-lineage thyroid lymphoma, clonal B-cell populations in HT are rare.

Aim: To investigate whether there is a clonal relationship between HT and primary thyroid lymphoma.

Methods: Clonalilty and sequence similarity was determined by PCR followed by sequencing and comparing immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene rearrangement sequences to germline sequences and to each other.

Short nucleotide polymorphic insertions in the MCL-1 promoter affect gene expression.

We have recently reported novel short nucleotide (six and eighteen) polymorphic insertions, in the MCL-1 promoter and their association with higher mRNA and protein levels. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that these insertions directly affect MCL-1 gene expression. Haematopoietic and epithelial human cell lines were transfected with +0, +6, or +18 MCL-1 promoter fragments positioned upstream of the Firefly luciferase reporter gene.

G125A single-nucleotide polymorphism in the human BAX promoter affects gene expression.

Earlier we had reported a guanine to adenosine substitution at position 125 (G125A) in the BAX promoter, and its association with higher stage of the disease and failure to achieve complete response to treatment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that G125A leads to a reduction in the transcription of the BAX gene and that this is a direct cause of altered BAX mRNA and protein expression. In lymphocytes of CLL patients, BAX mRNA expression was determined by RNase protection assay and Bax protein was detected by immunoblotting.

Clonal B cell populations in a minority of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Background: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is a risk factor for thyroid lymphoma, and clonal B cell populations in HT support this link. The literature on B cell clonality in HT is controversial.

Aims: To identify clonal B cell populations in HT and to assess their usefulness in differentiating HT from mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and predicting future development of lymphoma.

Prognostic significance of a short sequence insertion in the MCL-1 promoter in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Background: Mcl-1 protein contributes to the longevity of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells, and its higher expression has been associated with resistance to chemotherapy. We sought structural changes in the MCL-1 gene in CLL patients and associated these with clinical parameters of the disease.

Methods: The MCL-1 gene from peripheral blood lymphocytes from 58 CLL patients and 18 control subjects and from the RL and BC-3 lymphoma cell lines was sequenced.