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The JAK2V617F mutation is detectable at very low level in peripheral blood of healthy donors

Leukemia volume 20, page 1622 (2006)Cite this article

The JAK2V617F mutation has been recently described in several subsets of Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative diseases (MPD) (for a review see McClure et al.1). However, its precise role and position in the multistep genetic events leading to such MPD is still unknown. It may be that this mutation represents an early molecular onset causing the MPD phenotype or occurs as a mutation associated with disease progression.2 Its identification in normal patients would favour the first hypothesis, and could thus help in understanding the function of the JAK2V617F mutation in genesis of mutated MPD. Using a sensitive quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach, we thought to search for JAK2V617F mutation in a cohort of normal donors, and have detected it in around 10% of healthy volunteers.

Three blood samples were taken from 57 healthy donors – aged from 23 to 52 years – after informed consent was obtained. The samples were immediately coded to ensure anonymity of the donors. Five patients were rejected from the study because of a slightly abnormal blood count analysis performed on the first tube. Red blood cell lysis as well as DNA and RNA extractions were performed at day 1 from the second tube, and at day 2 from the third one. The PCR method used has been described elsewhere (in press in Clinical Chemistry). In brief, we used a quantitative PCR approach, which combines both molecular beacon probe and locked nucleic acid (LNA) oligonucleotide in a single and sealed tube. Molecular beacon was used to detect specifically the JAK2V617F-mutated allele while LNA oligonucleotide significantly and specifically limited the amplification of the wild-type (WT) JAK2 sequence. This blocking property for the WT target allowed thus to enrich the PCR products with JAK2V617F-mutated amplicons and to reach a quantitative sensitivity of 0.01% of mutated alleles.

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References

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  1. Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Erasme Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium

    P Sidon, H El Housni, B Dessars & P Heimann

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  1. P Sidon
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  2. H El Housni
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  3. B Dessars
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  4. P Heimann
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Correspondence to P Heimann.

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Sidon, P., El Housni, H., Dessars, B. et al. The JAK2V617F mutation is detectable at very low level in peripheral blood of healthy donors. Leukemia 20, 1622 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404292

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