Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

ArgBP2, encoding a negative regulator of ABL, is fused to MLL in a case of infant M5 acute myeloid leukemia involving 4q35 and 11q23

Leukemia volume 20, pages 1310–1313 (2006)Cite this article

Children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in Italy have a probability of event-free survival of 53% at 5 years.1 Acute myeloid leukemia associated with rearrangements involving the MLL gene (translocations, duplications, inversions, deletions) are frequently found in infants and in patients with secondary leukemias following treatment with DNA topoisomerase-II inhibitors, and are most often associated with the AML-M5 or -M4 FAB subtypes.2 The MLL gene (also called ALL-1 or HRX), located at 11q23, is involved in over 60 different translocations leading to gene fusion and over 30 partner genes have so far been cloned and partially characterized.2 The most common translocation is the t(9;11)(p22;q23) giving rise to the MLL-AF9 fusion gene, while other recurring translocations are the t(11;19)(q23;p13.3) and the t(11;19)(q23;p13.1), producing, respectively, the MLL-ENL and MLL-ELL oncogenes. Several studies have demonstrated that the transcriptional effector functions of the MLL fusion partners are essential for leukemogenesis; however, there are few common characteristics among these partner proteins that can clarify their role in leukemogenesis.2

We report the identification of ArgBP2 (Arg-binding-protein-2) as a new partner gene of MLL in a case of infant AML. A 3-month-old girl was diagnosed as having AML-M5. Her peripheral blood mononuclear cell count was 131 × 106/ml. Peripheral blood and bone marrow smears showed 16 and 30% of blasts, respectively. Immunophenotypic analysis revealed that the leukemic blasts were highly positive (from 42 to 77%) for CD14, CD15, CD33 and C11b.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Accession codes

Accessions

GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ

References

  1. Pession A, Rondelli R, Basso G, Rizzari C, Testi AM, Fagioli F et al. Treatment and long-term results in children with acute myeloid leukaemia treated according to the AIEOP AML protocols. Leukemia 2005; 19: 2043–2053.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Li ZY, Liu DP, Liang CC . New insight into the molecular mechanisms of MLL-associated leukemia. Leukemia 2005; 19: 183–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Felix CA, Jones DH . Panhandle PCR: a technical advance to amplify MLL genomic translocation breakpoints. Leukemia 1998; 12: 976–981.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Megonigal MD, Rappaport EF, Wilson RB, Jones DH, Whitlock JA, Ortega JA et al. Panhandle PCR for cDNA: a rapid method for isolation of MLL fusion transcripts involving unknown partner genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2000; 97: 9597–9602.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Strehl S, Borkhardt A, Slany R, Fuchs UE, Konig M, Haas OA . The human LASP1 gene is fused to MLL in an acute myeloid leukemia with t(11;17)(q23;q21). Oncogene 2003; 22: 157–160.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Cestra G, Toomre D, Chang S, De Camilli P . The Abl Arg substrate ArgBP2 nArgBP2 coordinates the function of multiple regulatory mechanisms converging on the actin cytoskeleton. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005; 102: 1731–1736.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Soubeyran P, Barac A, Szymkiewicz I, Dikic I . Cbl–ArgBP2 complex mediates ubiquitination and degradation of c-Abl. Biochem J 2003; 370: 29–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Yuan ZQ, Kim D, Kaneko S, Sussman M, Bokoch GM, Kruh GD et al. ArgBP2 interacts with Akt and p21-activated kinase-1 and promotes cell survival. J Biol Chem 2005; 280: 2183–2190.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from AIRC (to AP and LLN and a Regional Grant), MURST/FISR, and by the University of Bologna (funds for selected research topics). LM and SS were supported by AGEOP.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    A Pession, L Montemurro, S Serravalle, R Fazzina & R Tonelli

  2. Center of Pediatric Hematology Oncology, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

    L Lo Nigro

  3. Division of Pediatrics, Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy

    G Izzi

  4. Department of Pathology and Cancer Center, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA

    G Nucifora

  5. Department of Genetics, University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

    R Slany

Authors
  1. A Pession
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L Lo Nigro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L Montemurro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S Serravalle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R Fazzina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. G Izzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. G Nucifora
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. R Slany
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. R Tonelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Pession.

Additional information

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Leukemia website (http://www.nature.com/leu)

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pession, A., Lo Nigro, L., Montemurro, L. et al. ArgBP2, encoding a negative regulator of ABL, is fused to MLL in a case of infant M5 acute myeloid leukemia involving 4q35 and 11q23. Leukemia 20, 1310–1313 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404222

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404222

Search

Advanced search

Quick links