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Clustering of breakpoints on chromosome 11 in human B-cell neoplasms with the t(11 ; 14) chromosome translocation

Abstract

The t(11 ; 14) (ql3 ; q32) chromosome translocation has been reported in diffuse small and large cell lymphomas and in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL)1,2 and multiple myeloma3. Because chromosome band 14q32 is involved in this translocation, as well as in the t(8 ; 14) (q24 ; q32) translocation of the Burkitt tumour4, interruption of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus was postulated for this rearrangement5,6. We have cloned the chromosomal joinings between chromosomes 11 and 14 and also between chromosomes 14 and 18, in B-cell tumours carrying translocations involving these chromosomes6,7, and suggested the existence of two translocated loci, bcl-1 and bcl-2, normally located on chromosomes 11 (band q13) and 18 (band q21) respectively, involved in the pathogenesis of human B-cell neoplasms6,7. The results indicate that in the leukaemic cells from two different cases of CLL, the breakpoints on chromosome 11 are within 8 nucleotides of each other and on chromosome 14 involve the J4-DNA segment. Because we detected a 7mer-9mer signal-like sequence with a 12-base-long spacer on the normal chromosome 11, close to the breakpoint, we speculate that the t(11 ; 14) chromosome translocation in CLL may be sequence specific and may involve the recombination system for immunoglobulin gene segment (VDJ) joining.

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Tsujimoto, Y., Jaffe, E., Cossman, J. et al. Clustering of breakpoints on chromosome 11 in human B-cell neoplasms with the t(11 ; 14) chromosome translocation. Nature 315, 340–343 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/315340a0

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