Chromosome 13q deletion and IgH abnormalities may be both masked by near-tetraploidy in a high proportion of multiple myeloma patients: A combined morphology and I-FISH analysis

Establishment of cell lines from both myeloma bone marrow and plasmacytoma: SNU_MM1393_BM and SNU_MM1393_SC from a single patient

Purpose. We tried to establish clinically relevant human myeloma cell lines that can contribute to the understanding of multiple myeloma (MM). Materials and Methods. Mononuclear cells obtained from MM patient's bone marrow were injected via tail vein in an NRG/SCID mouse. Fourteen weeks after the injection, tumor developed at subcutis of the mouse. The engraftment of MM cells into mouse bone marrow (BM) was also observed. We separated and cultured cells from subcutis and BM. Results. After the separation and culture of cells from subcutis and BM, we established two cell lines originating from a single patient (SNU_MM1393_BM and SNU_MM1393_SC). Karyotype of the two newly established MM cell lines showed tetraploidy which is different from the karyotype of the patient (diploidy) indicating clonal evolution. In contrast to SNU_MM1393_BM, cell proliferation of SNU_MM1393_SC was IL-6 independent. SNU_MM1393_BM and SNU_MM1393_SC showed high degree of resistance against bortezomib compared to U266 cell line. SNU_MM1393_BM had the greater lethality compared to SNU_MM1393_SC. Conclusion. Two cell lines harboring different site tropisms established from a single patient showed differences in cytokine response and lethality. Our newly established cell lines could be used as a tool to understand the biology of multiple myeloma.

High detection rate of clinically relevant genomic abnormalities in plasma cells enriched from patients with multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma is a heterogeneous disease, which is characterized by the occurrence of specific genomic abnormalities that are both of diagnostic and prognostic relevance. Since the detection of these abnormalities through molecular-genetic techniques is hampered by the overall low percentage of plasma cells present in primary bone marrow aspirates, we assessed the efficacy of these techniques in enriched plasma cell fractions from 61 multiple myeloma patients. Using interphase FISH, genomic abnormalities could be detected in 96% of the enriched samples as compared to 61% in the cultured whole bone marrow samples. We also found that microarray-based genomic profiling of enriched plasma samples facilitates the detection of additional, possibly clinically relevant, genomic abnormalities. We conclude that the genomic delineation of enriched plasma cells from multiple myeloma patients results in a significantly increased detection rate of clinically relevant genomic abnormalities. In order to facilitate molecular-genetic data interpretation, we recommend morphological assessment of plasma cell purity after enrichment.

A SNP microarray and FISH-based procedure to detect allelic imbalances in multiple myeloma: an integrated genomics approach reveals a wide gene dosage effect

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by marked genomic heterogeneity. Beyond structural rearrangements, a relevant role in its biology is represented by allelic imbalances leading to significant variations in ploidy status. To elucidate better the genomic complexity of MM, we analyzed a panel of 45 patients using combined FISH and microarray approaches. We firstly generated genome-wide profiles of 41 MMs and four plasma cell leukemias, using a self-developed procedure to infer exact local copy numbers (CNs) for each sample. Our analysis allowed the identification of a significant fraction of patients showing near-tetraploidy. Furthermore, a conventional hierarchical clustering analysis showed that near-tetraploidy, 1q gain, hyperdiploidy, and recursive deletions at 1p and chromosomes 13, 14, and 22 were the main aberrations driving samples grouping. Moreover, mapping information was integrated with gene expression profiles of the tumor samples. A multiclass analysis of transcriptional profiles characterizing the different clusters showed marked gene-dosage effects, particularly concerning 1q transcripts; this finding was also confirmed by a nonparametric analysis between normalized gene expression levels and local CN variations (1027 highly-significant correlated genes). Finally, we identified several loci in which gene expression correlated with the occurrence of loss of heterozygosity. Our results provide insights into the composite network linking genome structure and transcriptional features in MM.