Interspliced transcription chimeras: neglected pathological mechanism infiltrating gene accession queries?

Recurrent reciprocal RNA chimera involving YPEL5 and PPP1CB in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common form of leukemia in adults in the Western hemisphere. Tumor-specific chromosomal translocations, characteristic findings in several human malignancies that directly lead to malignant transformation, have not been identified in CLL. Using paired-end transcriptome sequencing, we identified recurrent and reciprocal RNA chimeras involving yippee like 5 (YPEL5) and serine/threonine-protein phosphatase PP1-beta-catalytic subunit (PPP1CB) in CLL. Two of seven index cases (28%) harbored the reciprocal RNA chimeras in our initial screening. Using quantitative real-time PCR (q real-time PCR), YPEL5/PPP1CB and PPP1CB/YPEL5 fusion transcripts were detected in 97 of 103 CLL samples (95%) but not in paired normal samples, benign lymphocytes, or various unrelated cancers. Whole-genome sequencing and Southern blotting demonstrated no evidence for a genomic fusion between YPEL5 and PPP1CB. YPEL5/PPP1CB chimera, when introduced into mammalian cells, expressed a truncated PPP1CB protein that demonstrated diminished phosphatase activity. PPP1CB silencing resulted in enhanced proliferation and colony formation of MEC1 and JVM3 cells, implying a role in the pathogenesis of mature B-cell leukemia. These studies uncover a potential role for recurrent RNA chimeras involving phosphatases in the pathogenesis of a common form of leukemia.

Mutation-associated fusion cancer genes in solid tumors

Chromosomal translocations and fusion oncogenes serve as the ultimate biomarker for clinicians as they show specificity for distinct histopathologic malignancies while simultaneously encoding an etiologic mutation and a therapeutic target. Previously considered a minor mutational event in epithelial solid tumors, new methodologies that do not rely on the detection of macroscopic cytogenetic alterations, as well as access to large series of annotated clinical material, are expanding the inventory of recurrent fusion oncogenes in both common and rare solid epithelial tumors. Unexpectedly, related assays are also revealing a high number of tandem or chimeric transcripts in normal tissues including, in one provocative case, a template for a known fusion oncogene. These observations may force us to reassess long-held views on the definition of a gene. They also raise the possibility that some rearrangements might represent constitutive forms of a physiological chimeric transcript. Defining the chimeric transcriptome in both health (transcription-induced chimerism and intergenic splicing) and disease (mutation-associated fusion oncogenes) will play an increasingly important role in the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of patients with cancer.