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Departments of Medicine and the Divisions of Hematology and Molecular Oncology Group, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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In addition to the expression of Bcr/Abl, the reciprocal translocation t(9 ,22) results in the variable expression of Abl/Bcr from the derivative chromosome and loss of one normal allele of the BCR and c-ABL genes (4) . The natural history of CML patients expressing Abl/Bcr does not appear to differ from that observed in patients who do not express Abl/Bcr, suggesting that its expression is unlikely to contribute to genomic instability (4) . The loss of one normal BCR allele is also unlikely to play a role. Normal Bcr is ubiquitously expressed and negatively regulates oxidative burst in B cells and neutrophils. Whereas homozygous BCR knock-out mice are susceptible to endotoxin mediated shock, heterozygous BCR knock-out mice appear normal (5) . The c-ABL proto-oncogene, however, has been implicated in cell-cycle regulation and response to DNA damage after genotoxic stress. Over-expression of c-Abl induces G1 cell-cycle arrest, whereas deficiency of c-Abl confers a susceptibility to enhanced cellular transformation by dominant oncogenes (2 , 6 , 7) . Thus, both the expression of the dominant oncogene BCR/ABL and the concurrent loss of an allele of the tumor suppressor gene c-ABL could potentially directly initiate genomic instability in Ph-positive leukemias. Conversely, genomic instability may result from secondary genetic or epigenetic events (8 , 9) .
In previous studies, we have shown that retroviral transduction and expression of Bcr/Abl encoding P210 into 32D cl3(G) cells results in inhibition of apoptosis altered cell cycle regulation and induce rapid numerical and structural chromosomal abnormalities (10
, 11)
. More recently, we measured the basal point-mutation rate in heterozygote P190BCR/ABL/LIZ transgenic mice. The chromosomally integrated
bacteriophage shuttle vector (LIZ) contains a bacterial lacI gene as a target for mutation and
lacZ as a reporter gene (i.e., Big Blue mutation detection system; Stratagene). The line of P190BCR/ABL mice used express Bcr/Abl ubiquitously before developing B-cell lymphoma/leukemia with a latency of
100 days (12)
. In this preleukemic period, when there is no sign of cellular transformation, we observed a 23-fold steady-state increase in the frequency of point mutations in P190BCR/ABL/LIZ mice compared with control (13)
. Although these studies demonstrated that the expression of Bcr/Abl can directly induce a mutator phenotype antedating overt leukemic transformation, the experimental system used restricted characterization of this mutator phenotype to the study of point mutations only.
In the present study, we address the question of genomic instability by using inter-SSR PCR, in combination with primers which consist of a set of eight CA repeats (Fig. 1A
; see Ref. 14
). These CA repeats appear in all species tested and are the most frequent repeats in the human genome, with an estimated copy number of 50,000100,000 per haploid genome (15)
. Using Inter-SSR PCR, we compared the P190BCR/ABL preleukemic mice and P190BCR/ABL leukemic mice with control mice (BL6/CBA) and found an increased number of altered bands (insertions and deletions) in the preleukemic and leukemic mice compared with control. We also show that the frequency of altered bands can be decreased using the c-Abl specific kinase inhibitor STI571. These results confirm that the expression of Bcr/Abl alone can confer genomic instability before the onset of leukemia, and also extends the list of DNA repair defects characterizing the Bcr/Abl induced mutator phenotype to include double stranded DNA breaks.
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| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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100 days after birth. BL6/CBA mice were used as controls (Jackson Lab, Bar Harbor, ME). The mice were genotyped by using tail DNA and Southern blot analysis. Preleukemic mice were sacrificed and the kidneys and spleen removed for whole genomic DNA isolation using the Wizard DNA Isolation Kit (Promega, Madison, WI). Tumor tissue isolated from mice that had undergone leukemic transformation was processed similarly.
STI571 Kinase Inhibitor.
The c-Abl-specific kinase inhibitor STI571 (formally known as CGP57148B) was from Novartis Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland). A stock solution of STI571 was prepared by dissolving 35.7 mg of STI571 in 1 ml of 100% DMSO. The injection solution was prepared by making a final concentration of 10% DMSO and STI571 of the initial stock in sterile PBS. Mice were weighed and received i.p. injections of 50 mg/kg STI571 daily for 10 consecutive days. This dose of STI571 has been shown previously to completely inhibit Bcr/Abl in a mouse tumorigenic assay (17)
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PCR.
PCR amplification was carried out using 1 µM RG primer [(CA)8RG]; 50 ng of genomic DNA; 0.3 units Taq polymerase (Life Technologies, Inc., Rockville, MD) and 1 µCi of 32P
dCTP (250 µCi; Amersham, Arlington Heights, IL) in a 20-µL total mixture of PCR buffer [10 mM Tris-HCL (pH 9.0); 2% formamide; 50 mM KCL; 0.2 mM deoxynucleoside triphosphates; 1.5 mM MgCL2; 0.01% gelatin; 0.01% Triton X-100]. The primer RG consists of eight CA repeats anchored by two nucleotides, in which G is guanine and R is a 50:50 mixture of the purines adenine (A) and guanine (G; Fig. 1A
).
Amplification was performed using a Perkin-Elmer Cycler (Cetus), with an initial denaturation for 3 min at 94°C, followed by 30 PCR cycles at 94°C for 30 s, at 52°C for 45 s, and at 72°C for 2 min. A final extension at 72°C was performed for 7 min.
Gel Analysis.
The PCR product was loaded on an 8% nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel, run at constant 1500 V, dried and exposed to film (Biomax, Kodak, Amersham, Arlington Heights, IL) at room temperature for 2 days. The gels were analyzed using one normal control as a standard for each tissue (Fig. 1B)
. Using this control, an average of 20 bands were counted and compared with each sample run to count insertions and deletions (Fig. 1C)
. A blind reading of the samples was performed to avoid bias in reading the results. One control was used and compared with other controls to look for variance within each control. Repeat analyses of all samples were performed (average of five PCR reactions per tissue sample) to minimize the effect of experimental variability. Data analysis was completed and the statistical calculations were carried out using Microsoft Excel and SigmaPlot.
Light-Cycler RT-PCR.
Total RNA was extracted from kidney and spleen samples using TRIzol (Life Technologies, Inc., Rockville, MD). RNA concentration was determined by spectrophotometric measurements at A260 and a ratio of A260/A280. The integrity of the RNA was tested by running 5 mg of total RNA on a formaldehyde gel. Quantification and RT-PCR was performed per the manufacturers instructions (Roche Molecular Biochemicals).
Sequencing.
Band products were gel extracted from a 1% agarose gel and clones were prepared in SK+pbluescript (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) using the T7 primer-forward (New England BioLabs, Beverly, MA) and the T3 primer-reverse (New England BioLabs, Beverly, MA). Sequencing was performed at the Sheldon Biotechnology Centre (Montreal, Quebec, Canada).
| RESULTS |
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In contrast to what we observed in normal spleen tissue, the basal mutation rate was not increased in the kidneys of mice treated with STI571 (P = 0.897). This difference might be explained by the masking of a mutagenic STI571 effect by the basal mutation rate observed in control kidney, by insensitivity of kidney tissue to the loss of normal c-Abl function, or by some other mechanism. The mutation frequency in preleukemic kidney tissue was higher than that observed in spleen, and it was possible to show that this could be partially reduced with STI571 treatment (P = 0.045).
Taken together, these results confirm the ability of Bcr/Abl to directly increase the frequency of insertions and deletions. Although our results indicate the potential beneficial effect of STI571 to decrease this effect by inhibiting Bcr/Abl, the observed increase in mutation frequency in normal spleen tissue of mice treated with STI571 raises some concern that inhibition of normal c-Abl may be mutagenic in susceptible cells.
One way to confirm these results would be to address the mutation frequencies and the effects of STI571 in other hematopoietic tissues. We have attempted this on bone marrow samples of these transgenic mice in our laboratory, and our preliminary studies indicate that several mouse samples would need to be combined for these studies, and, in this case, we cannot rule out the possibility of differences between individual mice. Therefore, we believe the spleen was the best tissue to observe hematopoietic changes.
Specificity of Inter-SSR PCR Assay.
To determine whether this assay was efficient at amplification of CA repeats, several bands were cloned and sequenced to address their specificity. In each of the sequence samples cloned, the CA-repeat primer was noted, as well as identical sequences for bands which were run on the same gels (Fig. 3)
. These experiments indicated that this PCR assay was very specific for the amplification of CA repeats and that the bands being compared are of identical sequences.
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| DISCUSSION |
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Whether Bcr/Abl is a direct inducer of genomic instability or is secondarily acquired has been the subject of a recurring debate. In the present study, we addressed this issue by taking advantage of the P190BCR/ABL line 623 transgenic mice that express Bcr/Abl before developing leukemia with an average latency of 100 days after birth. The level of Bcr/Abl expression in these mice is much lower than that commonly observed in vector-transformed Bcr/Abl expressing cell lines, thus minimizing the risk of artifacts resulting from overexpression. We have closely examined these animals and have not been able to demonstrate defects in apoptosis, cell-cycle regulation, or response to genotoxic stress at these levels of Bcr/Abl in preleukemic mice (21)
. However, the level of Bcr/abl expression is sufficient to induce leukemia. The only abnormality that we have observed is a subtle abnormality of bone marrow B-lymphocyte development (22)
. Using this animal model system in a previous study, we have shown a 23-fold increase in the point-mutation frequency in the spleen and kidney (13)
. In the present study, using inter-SSR PCR, we were able to show that increased frequency of insertions and deletions occur in both spleen and kidney tissues before neoplastic transformation, providing strong evidence that Bcr/Abl can directly induce genomic instability. The mutation frequency in kidney was greater than that observed in spleen tissue and was consistent with the higher expression of Bcr/Abl observed (Table 1)
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In contrast to BCR/ABL positive ALL, most patients with chronic phase CML present with leukemic cells that still retain most of the functions of their normal hematopoietic cell counterparts before recognizable secondary cytogenetic and genetic changes occur. Thus, the inhibition of Bcr/Abl would be expected not only to suppress the clonal expansion of myeloid cell growth, but also to reverse the mutator phenotype conferred by Bcr/Abl as observed experimentally, reduce the rate of secondary genetic events, and either prolong the chronic phase, or block progression to CML blast crisis. Treatment with the c-Abl specific kinase inhibitor STI571, which is currently undergoing clinic trials, has proven highly effective in inhibiting myeloid cell growth in CML. It is still too early to know whether this beneficial effect can be sustained over the long term or whether secondary neoplastic transformation can be prevented. In the present study, we attempted to reverse the mutator phenotype observed in preleukemic P190BCR/ABL transgenic mice using injections of STI571. We were able to show a partial reversal of the mutation frequency in preleukemic kidney, but not in spleen cells, perhaps attributable, in part, to the higher basal mutation frequency observed in the former. This is the result expected for inhibition of the dominant Bcr/Abl oncoprotein. However, we also observed an increased frequency of insertions and deletions in normal spleen cells treated with STI571 compared with untreated controls. Given that STI571 is equally effective at inhibiting c-Abl as it is Bcr/Abl, the increase in mutations observed in normal spleen cells associated with STI571 treatment raises the possibility that inhibition of c-Abl, a putative tumor suppressor gene, may have deleterious effects in some tissues. This observation and the risk of inducing secondary cancers from the pharmacological inhibition of c-Abl in normal tissues deserves further investigation.
| FOOTNOTES |
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1 Sponsored by grants from the Medical Research Council of Canada. ![]()
2 Present address: The Center for Blood Research, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. ![]()
3 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Division of Hematology, Royal Victoria Hospital, 687 Pine Avenue West, Room C6.82, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A1, Canada. Phone: (514) 843-1558; Fax: (514) 843-1418; E-mail: laneuvillep{at}muhchem.mcgill.ca ![]()
4 The abbreviations used are: Ph, hallmark Philadelphia chromosome; CML, chronic myelogenous leukemia; SSR, simple sequence repeat; RT-PCR, reverse-transcription PCR. ![]()
Received 2/13/01. Revised 5/27/03. Accepted 6/11/03.
| REFERENCES |
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