Gene expression profiling in BCR/ABL expressing HSCs

The BCR-ABL oncogene, generated by Philadelphia chromosome, is present in about 95% human Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and 20~30% acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). One of BCR-ABL isoforms, P210, is more often detected in CML and ALL patients. Although BCR-ABL kinase inhibitors are effective in controlling the diseases, they do not provide cure due to the development of drug resistance and the insensitivity of leukemia stem cells to these drugs. Identification of new therapeutic targets is critical. To identify potential target against leukemia stem cells, we studied gene expression in leukemia stem cells, which were identified in mice in our lab (Hu Y, Swerdlow S, Duffy TM, Weinmann R, Lee FY, Li S. 2006. Targeting multiple kinase pathways in leukemic progenitors and stem cells is essential for improved treatment of Ph+ leukemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103(45):16870-16875.). The sorted leukemia stem cells that expressed BCR-ABL were used for isolation of RNA, followed by the analysis of gene expression using the DNA microarray. The same lineage of non-BCR-ABL-expressing normal hematopoietic stem cells was used as control. We have identified some interesting genes that are up- or down-regulated by BCR-ABL in these leukemia stem cells. We are currently studying the functions of these identified genes.

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Chen Y, Hu Y, Zhang H, Peng C, Li S