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Efficient and easy detection of MLL-AF4, MLL-AF9 and MLL-ENL fusion gene transcripts by multiplex real-time quantitative RT-PCR in TaqMan and LightCycler

Leukemia volume 19, pages 2016–2018 (2005)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

Abnormalities of the mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) gene on chromosome band 11q23 can be detected in de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as well as in therapy-related AML, particularly after treatment with DNA topoisomerase II inhibitors.1 To date, more than 50 different translocations involving the MLL gene have been described, and so far up to 37 different partner genes have been cloned. The t(4;11)(q21;q23) results in the MLL-AF4 fusion gene and is the most frequent MLL translocation in ALL, but is rare in AML. The t(11;19)(q23;p13.3) generates the MLL-ENL fusion gene and is observed with equal frequency in AML and ALL, whereas t(9;11)(p21–22;q23), resulting in the MLL-AF9 fusion gene, is the most common MLL abnormality in AML.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mandy van der Steen and Patricia Hoogeveen for their technical assistance and Marieke Comans-Bitter for preparation of the figures. We are grateful to Dr P Valk for kindly providing cDNA/DNA of adult AML cases and to Professor Dr R Pieters and Dr M den Boer for providing infant ALL samples. We thank Professor Dr R Marschalek and Dr C Meyer for sequencing the MLL DNA breakpoint region. We gratefully acknowledge Roche Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) for providing the LightCycler. This work was supported by the Dutch Cancer Foundation (KWF Grant EUR2001-2441).

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  1. Department of Immunology, Erasmus MC, Unit Molecular Immunology, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    M W J C Jansen, V H J van der Velden & J J M van Dongen

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  1. M W J C Jansen
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Correspondence to M W J C Jansen.

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Jansen, M., van der Velden, V. & van Dongen, J. Efficient and easy detection of MLL-AF4, MLL-AF9 and MLL-ENL fusion gene transcripts by multiplex real-time quantitative RT-PCR in TaqMan and LightCycler. Leukemia 19, 2016–2018 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403939

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