Variation of LEF-1 mRNA expression in low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

During normal B-lymphocyte development once cells pass the pro-B stage the transcription factor LEF-1, a key component of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, is down regulated. However studies have shown that B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) lymphocytes, which have a mature B-cell phenotype, still express abundant LEF-1. This study demonstrates that although LEF-1 mRNA is universally, highly expressed in B-CLL, expression of this gene is much lower or absent in the majority of low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

Comparison of flow cytometric methods for the measurement of ZAP-70 expression in a routine diagnostic laboratory.

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) follows a variable clinical course with patient survival ranging from only a few years despite treatment, to several decades in patients who may never require clinical intervention. Determination of the mutational status of a patient's immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (Ig V(H)) gene has been used to provide prognostic information, but this assay is not available in most laboratories. The discovery of the expression of the protein tyrosine kinase zeta-associated protein (ZAP)-70 in V(H)-unmutated CLL cases led to its proposal as a surrogate marker for V(H) status.

Relative levels of alternative transcripts of the ING1 gene and lack of mutations of p33/ING1 in haematological malignancies.

The protein product of the ING1 gene physically interacts with p53 and appears necessary for the role of p53 in growth inhibition/apoptosis. Alternative splicing of the ING1 gene produces three transcripts: p24/ING1-ALT1, p47/ING1-ALT2 and p33/ING1. A competitive RT-PCR, which determines the relative levels of these transcripts, was employed to study peripheral blood lymphocytes from 49 patients with haematological malignancies and five normal controls.