Expression of the BCL6 gene in the pre- and postnatal mouse

Human BCL6, also called LAZ3, is a protein involved in gene regulation and abnormal expression of BCL6 and has been implicated in the tumorigenesis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. We have analyzed the expression of murin bcl6 in pre- and postnatal mouse using in situ hybridization histochemistry and Northern blotting. The developing olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity was the only tissue displaying a positive bcl6 mRNA signal in the day 14 embryo. At gestational day 17, expression was primarily seen in skeletal muscle, olfactory epithelium, and thymus, and also in the epithelium lining the upper airways and esophagus. In selected tissues from postnatal mouse, bcl6 expression was detected in brain, renal cortex, spleen, and thymus. The expression in brain was restricted to the pyramidal cell layer of the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus regions CA1 and CA2, and the dentate gyrus. Our results show that bcl6 expression is not confined only to organs of the lymphatic system, such as spleen and thymus. Thus, bcl6 may be active as a regulator of gene transcription in many different cell types, including epithelial and nerve cells.

Expression of LAZ3/BCL6 in follicular center (FC) B cells of reactive lymph nodes and FC-derived non-Hodgkin lymphomas

Chromosomal translocation resulting in abnormal expression of the LAZ3/BCL6 gene in B cells has been implicated in the tumorigenesis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Therefore we studied the expression pattern of LAZ3/BCL6 by in situ hybridization with synthetic oligonucleotide probes in frozen tissue sections from five reactive lymph nodes and 38 B cell and non-B NHL. In addition, we investigated the expression of LAZ3/BCL6 by Northern blot analysis on multiple human tissues. The LAZ3/BCL6 transcript was found in a variety of tissues, including skeletal muscle, peripheral blood leukocytes, and weakly in normal lymph nodes. In the tumor samples, expression of LAZ3/BCL6 was observed in 68% of all B cell NHL and none of the non-B lymphomas. All cases of follicular, mixed small and large cell lymphomas showed LAZ3/BCL6 expression confined to the neoplastic follicles. A follicular expression pattern was also found in all non-malignant reactive lymph nodes. Hence, the expression of LAZ3/BCL6 does not correlate to malignancy, but reflects the origin of B cells from the germinal centers.

Primary structure of human 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase and organization and chromosomal localization of the corresponding gene

The universal chromophore of visual pigments in higher animals is 11-cis retinaldehyde. The final step in the biosynthetic pathway generating this compound is catalyzed by 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase, a membrane-bound enzyme abundantly expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium of the eye. In this work we demonstrate that the primary structure of human 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase is highly conserved with 91% identity to the bovine enzyme. The gene encoding 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase spans over approximately 4.1 kb of DNA and is divided into four translated exons. Analysis of a panel of somatic cells hybrids and fluorescence in situ hybridization on metaphase chromosomes revealed that the gene is located on chromosome 12q13-q14. Due to the unique role of 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase in the generation of visual pigments, it is a candidate gene for involvement in hereditary eye disease.

Duplication of 2q31-qter as a sole aberration in a case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

We report a case of peripheral T-cell lymphoma that was initially found to have the aberrant karyotype 47,XX,t(2;13)(q22;q22),+19. At relapse 2 years later, a malignant clone with the karyotype 46,XX,der(22)t(2;22)(q31;q13) was identified. This rearrangement leads to a duplication of the distal part of the long arm of chromosome 2. We used chromosome-specific painting libraries and multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization, as a complement to banding analysis, to resolve the karyotype.

Mapping of a new MAP kinase activated protein kinase gene (3PK) to human chromosome band 3p21.2 and ordering of 3PK and two cosmid markers in the 3p22-p21 tumour-suppressor region by two-colour fluorescence in situ hybridization

A Noti-linking clone NL1-210 (D3S1656) that contains the human MAP kinase activated protein kinase (3PK) gene was localized to 3p21.2 on DAPI-banded and propidium iodide (R-bands)-stained chromosomes by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). For more precise localization of 3PK, two cosmid probes were used as a frame. In order to establish this frame, two Noti-linking clones, NL2-008 (D3S1648) and NL3-003 (D3S3872) were used to screen the cosmid library for locus extension. They mapped to 3p21 and were found to belong to two separate contigs of Noti-jumping and linking clones. Using FISH on DAPI-banded metaphase chromosomes, we have determined the precise localization of cosNL2-008 and cosNL3-003 to 3p21.2-p21.1 and 3p22-p21.3 respectively. The 3PK gene was localized to the 3p21.2 region within this frame by two-colour FISH. The orientation of the probes are tel-D3S3872-3PK-D3S1648-cen.

Chromosomal localization and 5' sequence of the human protein serine/threonine phosphatase 5' gene

Protein phosphorylation plays a crucial role in the regulation of a wide array of proteins involved in many cellular processes. Protein phosphatase 5 (PP5) is a novel member of the protein serine/threonine phosphatase family. The majority of the cDNA sequence of PP5 has been reported recently. In our study, a sequence encoding the whole open reading frame of PP5 was cloned from a human fetal brain cDNA library. The protein phosphatase cDNA sequence of our clone is longer at the 5' end than the recently published sequence. It's likely that the extended sequence contains the start codon ATG, since a translation stop codon TAG is present upstream of the ATG codon in the same open reading frame. The mRNA of the PP5 gene was detected in all the human tissues examined. The PP5 gene was localized to human chromosomal region 19q13.3.