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Thoas Fioretos

Thoas Fioretos

Research team manager

Thoas Fioretos

Fusion of the BCR and the fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 (FGFR1) genes as a result of t(8;22)(p11;q11) in a myeloproliferative disorder: the first fusion gene involving BCR but not ABL

Author

  • Thoas Fioretos
  • Ioannis Panagopoulos
  • Carin Lassen
  • Agneta Swedin
  • Rolf Billström
  • Margareth Isaksson
  • Bodil Strömbeck
  • Tor Olofsson
  • Felix Mitelman
  • Bertil Johansson

Summary, in English

Constitutive activation of tyrosine kinases as a consequence of chromosomal translocations, forming fusion genes, plays an important role in the development of hematologic malignancies, in particular, myeloproliferative syndromes (MPSs). In this respect, the t(9;22)(q34;q11) that results in the BCR/ABL fusion gene in chronic myeloid leukemia is one of the best-studied examples. The fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) gene at 8p11 encodes a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase and is similarly activated by chromosomal translocations, in which three alternative genes-ZNF198 at 13q12, CEP110 at 9q34, and FOP at 6q27-become fused to the tyrosine kinase domain of FGFR1. These 8p11-translocations are associated with characteristic morphologic and clinical features, referred to as "8p11 MPS." In this study, we report the isolation and characterization of a novel fusion gene in a hematologic malignancy with a t(8;22)(p11;q11) and features suggestive of 8p11 MPS. We show that the breakpoints in the t(8;22) occur within introns 4 and 8 of the BCR and FGFR1 genes, respectively. On the mRNA level, the t(8;22) results in the fusion of BCR exons 1-4 in-frame with the tyrosine kinase domain of FGFR1 as well as in the expression of a reciprocal FGFR1/BCR chimeric transcript. By analogy with data obtained from previously characterized fusion genes involving FGFR1 and BCR/ABL, it is likely that the oligomerization domain contributed by BCR is critical and that its dimerizing properties lead to aberrant FGFR1 signaling and neoplastic transformation.

Department/s

  • Division of Clinical Genetics
  • Division of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine

Publishing year

2001

Language

English

Pages

302-310

Publication/Series

Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer

Volume

32

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Topic

  • Medical Genetics

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1045-2257