quantitative-immunoblotting-cell-lines-as-standard-to-validate

Quantitative Immunoblotting of Cell Lines as a Standard to Validate Immunofluorescence for Quantifying Biomarker Proteins in Routine Tissue Samples

Quantification of proteins of interest in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples is important in clinical and research applications. An ...

Queen's University

Queen's Cancer Research Institute

The oncogenic transcription factor E2A-PBX1 is expressed consequent to chromosomal translocation 1;19 and is an important oncogenic driver in cases of pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Elucidating the mechanism by which E2A-PBX1 induces lymphoid leukemia would be expedited by the availability of a tractable experimental model in which enforced expression of E2A-PBX1 in hematopoietic progenitors induces pre-B-cell ALL. However, hematopoietic reconstitution of irradiated mice with bone marrow infected with E2A-PBX1-expressing retroviruses consistently gives rise to myeloid, not lymphoid, leukemia. Here, we elucidate the hematopoietic consequences of forced E2A-PBX1 expression in primary murine hematopoietic progenitors. We show that introducing E2A-PBX1 into multipotent progenitors permits the retention of myeloid potential but imposes a dense barrier to lymphoid development prior to the common lymphoid progenitor stage, thus helping to explain the eventual development of myeloid, and not lymphoid, leukemia in transplanted mice. Our findings also indicate that E2A-PBX1 enforces the aberrant, persistent expression of some genes that would normally have been down-regulated in the subsequent course of hematopoietic maturation. We show that enforced expression of one such gene, Hoxa9, a proto-oncogene associated with myeloid leukemia, partially reproduces the phenotype produced by E2A-PBX1 itself. Existing evidence suggests that the 1;19 translocation event takes place in committed B-lymphoid progenitors. However, we find that retrovirus-enforced expression of E2A-PBX1 in committed pro-B-cells results in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Our findings indicate that the neoplastic phenotype induced by E2A-PBX1 is determined by the developmental stage of the cell into which the oncoprotein is introduced.

Retrovirus-Mediated Expression of E2A-PBX1 Blocks Lymphoid Fate but Permits Retention of Myeloid Potential in Early Hematopoietic Progenitors.

Although generally indolent, follicular lymphoma (FL) sometimes pursues a more aggressive course leading to early death. B-cell-specific Mo-MLV insertion site-1 (BMI1) is a member of the polycomb group (PcG) proteins that confer stem cell properties through gene silencing. We used multi-channel immunofluorescence and automated image analysis to quantify BMI1 selectively in the nuclei of FL-derived B-cells in routine biopsy specimens. Applying this assay to 109 pretreatment FL biopsy samples demonstrates a significant association between abundant BMI1 and reduced overall survival (p = .001); the statistically significant association with mortality persists in a Cox proportional hazards model that includes Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) score, histological grade, and the presence of a component of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the biopsy sample. Ascertaining BMI1 over-expression may be useful in identifying patients who might benefit from novel therapies directed at reversing the chromatin-modifying functions of BMI1.

Abundant expression of BMI1 in follicular lymphoma is associated with reduced overall survival.

We report the first case of composite lymphoma consisting of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), follicular lymphoma (FL) and high-grade B-cell lymphoma with MYC and BCL2 rearrangements within the same needle biopsy in which a clonal relationship between the FL and high-grade B-cell lymphoma components was demonstrated by molecular cytogenetics.

David P. LeBrun

Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine

Queen's University

Quantitative Immunoblotting of Cell Lines as a Standard to Validate Immunofluorescence for Quantifying Biomarker Proteins in Routine Tissue Samples

David P. LeBrun

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine

Queen's University

Quantitative Immunoblotting of Cell Lines as a Standard to Validate Immunofluorescence for Quantifying Biomarker Proteins in Routine Tissue Samples

Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine