Characterization of immunoglobulin heavy chain genes from an acute lymphocytic leukemia with four rearrangements.

Approximately 25% of acute leukemias of the B-cell lineage demonstrate more than two rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain genes when examined by Southern blot analysis. The origin of the extra bands was investigated by molecular cloning and sequencing of four rearranged genes from one patient's leukemic cells. All four rearrangements were apparently derived independently. Two of the rearrangements used the VH6 variable region, attached to different diversity and joining regions. One of the two rearrangements contained a mutation in the coding sequence leading to the generation of a nonsense codon. This rearranged gene also differed from the other VH6 containing gene starting at about 330 bp upstream of the ATG initiation codon. The third rearranged gene used a member of the VH2 variable gene family. A DH-JH rearrangement was found in the fourth rearranged gene. The data indicate that the leukemia probably arose as a result of the transformation of an early B-cell progenitor that lacked rearranged immunoglobulin genes but retained some differentiation potential.