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H Cavé

Publications and source records attributed to H Cavé.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Delineation of a 6 cM commonly deleted region in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia on the 6q chromosomal arm.

Deletion of the long arm of human chromosome 6 in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been shown by cytogenetic studies in 4-11% of cases. To characterize further the region of deletion and to precisely establish its frequency, we studied loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in 120 children with ALL using polymorphic markers located from the 6q14-15 chromosomal band to the telomere. LOH was detected in eight patients. A single region of LOH, flanked distally by D6S1594 and proximally by D6S301 was detected. These DNA markers are separated by 6 cM and are approximately located at the 6q21-22 band. Our present results delineate a region that is likely to contain a tumor-suppressor gene involved in a subset of childhood ALLs.

Adolescent↗

ETV6 is the target of chromosome 12p deletions in t(12;21) childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia.

The presence of ETV6 deletions was investigated in 215 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) using the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) approach. We used four intragenic or juxtagenic microsatellite markers to detect allelic deletions. In this series of unselected patients, LOH of ETV6 markers was found in 23% of cases (6% of T-ALL and 26% of B lineage ALL) confirming that chromosome 12p12-13 deletions represent a major genetic alteration in childhood ALL, frequently missed by cytogenetic analysis. The presence of a t(12;21)(p13;q22) was studied by RT-PCR and/or FISH in a total of 134 patients (125 B lineage ALL, nine T-ALL) including 42 cases with LOH. Thirty-four out of 44 patients (77%) for whom a t(12;21) was observed displayed LOH of the ETV6 markers. When associated with a t(12;21), ETV6 is very likely to be the target of deletions as indicated by the detection of intragenic deletions in three patients. Although deletion of ETV6 and t(12;21) were associated in most patients, in eight cases (six B lineage and two T-ALL) LOH was detected at the ETV6 locus without ETV6-AML1 hybrid RNA. FISH studies conducted in five of these eight patients confirmed the absence of translocation involving ETV6. In such patients, the other allele of ETV6 could be disrupted by either a small deletion, a point mutation, or an epigenetic modification and it will be of interest to study the structure and expression of the remaining allele of ETV6 in these cases. Alternatively, a tumor suppressor gene located close to ETV6 and CDKN1B could be the target of deletions.

Adolescent↗

Deletion mapping indicates that MTS1 is the target of frequent deletions at chromosome 9p21 in paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemias.

Recent reports have indicated a high frequency of deletions of MTS1 (CDKN2, p16ink4, CDKI4) in acute lymphoblastic leukaemias (ALLs). This gene is located at chromosome 9p21 and encodes an inhibitor of cyclin D-dependent kinases. In contrast with the observations in some other malignancies, no inactivation of MTS1 by intragenic mutation was demonstrated in leukaemias. A contribution of MTS1 alterations to leukaemogenesis therefore remains questionable. In order to test for the implication of MTS1 as a tumour suppressor gene in paediatric ALLs we have explored the 9p21 chromosomal region of 46 children with this disease. The copy number of the MTS1 gene in blasts from the patients was determined using a quantitative PCR assay enabling us to precisely detect mono- and bi-allelic deletions. Rearrangements of the gene were sought by Southern blot analysis. The extent of the deletions was studied using microsatellite markers spanning the 9p21 chromosomal region. Point mutations were sought in exon 1 and exon 2 of the MTS1 gene in patients with a mono-allelic deletion in addition, exon 2 of MTS1, which contains two-thirds of the coding region, was sequenced in all patients who had no deletion of the gene. Altogether, our data are consistent with the view that MTS1 is the target of 9p21 deletions. Either one or two alleles of the gene were deleted in 36% of non-selected children with B-lineage ALL and both alleles were deleted in all seven patients we studied with T-lineage ALL. The absence of any point mutation implies that the major mechanism of inactivation of MTS1 in ALLs is deletional.

Adolescent↗

Fluorometric detection of HIV-1 genome through use of an internal control, inosine-substituted primers, and microtiter plate format.

We describe a PCR-based fluorometric assay for the detection of the HIV-1 genome. This technique consists of a reverse hybridization with oligonucleotide probes covalently coated onto a microtiter plate as a solid support. Several improvements to the PCR amplification and detection steps gave greater sensitivity and specificity for HIV-1 screening and resulted in a convenient and rapid technique. False-positive results were avoided by using uracyl DNA glycosylase. False-negative results from the presence of PCR inhibitors were detected by coamplifying an internal control with the viral sequence. False-negative results from viral genome variability were limited by using two pairs of primers and by incorporating inosine at the primer positions corresponding to viral polymorphic nucleotides. Furthermore, the hybridization buffer and enzymatic reaction were optimized to increase the assay's sensitivity. The sensitivity and specificity of the fluorometric detection were similar to those of radioisotopic oligonucleotide solution hybridization; however, hands-on time was reduced, and the use of radioactivity was eliminated. We have used this technique routinely on 115 samples and obtained 100% specificity and high sensitivity (only one false-negative result) according to viral culture and (or) serological status of the patients.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

A low rate of loss of heterozygosity is found at many different loci in childhood B-lineage acute lymphocytic leukemia.

We have carried out a screening for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in 51 children with B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Forty-six highly polymorphic microsatellite markers located in subtelomeric areas of every chromosome arm were analyzed in each patient. Allelic losses were encountered at 21 of the 46 loci tested (46%). The frequency of LOH at a given locus was usually < 10% and fractional allelic loss, calculated as the ratio of chromosomal arms displaying loss among all informative arms for each patient, ranged from 0.025 to 0.31 (mean, 0.063). This study provides further evidence that deletional events are a major type of genetic alteration found in childhood ALL. The diversity of the loci displaying LOH suggests that, as in solid tumors, numerous tumor suppressor genes are likely to participate in leukemogenesis. However, the overall low frequency of LOH, as well as the absence of microsatellite instability suggest that the genetic instability is lower in childhood ALL than in most of the solid tumors.

Alleles↗

Loss of heterozygosity in the chromosomal region 12p12-13 is very common in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and permits the precise localization of a tumor-suppressor gene distinct from p27KIP1.

Abnormalities of the short arm of chromosome 12 are relatively common in hematologic malignancies and deletions of the region. 12p12-13 are found in approximately 5% of the patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). As a potent inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases, p27KIP1 prevents the progression of the cell cycle and the gene encoding p27KIP1 represents a potential tumor-suppressor gene. Its recent assignment to the chromosomal region (12p12.3) prompted us to study the p27KIP1 gene in a series of 61 children with ALL. Microsatellite polymorphic markers flanking the p27KIP1 gene were analyzed to detect losses of heterozygosity (LOH). Eleven patients displayed LOH for at least one of the markers. The deleted are encompassed the p27KIP1 gene locus in 10 cases, but inactivation of the remaining allele by deletion, translocation, or mutation was never observed. In addition, in 1 patient, the p27KIP1 gene was situated outside of the region of LOH. Thus, p27KIP1 does not seem to be the target gene of 12p12-13 alterations. However, this study indicates that 12p12-13 alterations at the molecular level, which are present in about 27% of the children with B-lineage ALL, are much more common than had previously been reported by usual chromosome analysis. Moreover, LOH mapping allowed us to better define the location of a putative tumor-suppressor gene implicated in these malignancies and should therefore help in identifying this gene.

Base Sequence↗

Localization of the CDKN4/p27Kip1 gene to human chromosome 12p12.3.

CDKN4/p27Kip1 is a cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor implicated in G1 phase arrest, which negatively regulates G1 phase progression in response to TGF beta, and might represent a tumor suppressor gene. We report here the chromosomal assignment of the human CDKN4 gene to chromosome 12p12.3 in close proximity to highly polymorphic microsatellite markers.

Base Sequence↗

Prospective monitoring and quantitation of residual blasts in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia by polymerase chain reaction study of delta and gamma T-cell receptor genes.

We have developed a strategy based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detecting all possible gamma T-cell receptor (gamma TCR) rearrangements and the most common delta TCR rearrangements found in B-lineage and T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). The segments amplified from blasts are then directly sequenced to derive clonospecific probes. From a series of 45 patients aged 1 to 15 years (42 B-lineage ALL, 3 T-ALL), 35 (83%) could be followed for minimal residual disease with at least one clonospecific probe. Detection of clonal markers using clonospecific probes routinely allowed the detection of 1 to 10 blasts out of 10(5) cells as determined by serial dilutions of the initial samples. Residual disease was quantitated by a competitive PCR assay based on the coamplification of an internal standard. Twenty children were prospectively followed for periods varying from 7 to 30 months. In most children, a progressive decrease of the tumor load was observed, and blasts became undetectable within 6 months after the initiation of treatment. A slower kinetics of decrease in tumor cells was found in three children. These three patients relapsed with blasts that continued to display the initial clonospecific markers. Three other children had a central nervous system relapse despite the absence of detectable medullary residual disease. The use of both delta and gamma TCR genes as clonal markers, as well as simplification in the methods to detect and quantify residual blasts reported here, will allow the study of the large number of patients required to determine the role of the detection of minimal residual disease by PCR in the follow-up of childhood ALL.

Adolescent↗

Differentiation of Escherichia coli strains using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis.

Fifty-nine Escherichia coli strains isolated from 54 unrelated patients over a six-year period, as well as the reference strain of the species, were studied by analysis of randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to assess the usefulness of this genotyping approach in molecular epidemiology. Using a 10-mer oligonucleotide primer, 28 different RAPD fingerprints were distinguished among the 60 strains previously delineated in 36 ribotypes by EcoRI and HindIII digests. The patterns were reproducible and stable after in vitro and in vivo studies. Some strains harbouring an identical ribotype exhibited distinct RAPD fingerprints. Thus, these data illustrate the usefulness of the association of two genetic markers in assessing the relationship between strains. Interestingly, among the RAPD patterns, several bands were present only in the highly virulent carboxylesterase type B2 strains, which are more homogeneous than the carboxylesterase type B1 strains. Because of its simplicity and rapidity, RAPD analysis appears to be a highly valuable tool for studying E. coli molecular epidemiology.

Bacteremia↗

Molecular analysis of multiply recurrent meningitis due to Escherichia coli K1 in an infant.

Bacterial DNA polymorphism was used to document the occurrence of three separate episodes of meningitis caused by Escherichia coli K1 in an infant. The methods employed included determination of the restriction fragment length polymorphism of total DNA and of ribosomal DNA regions as well as DNA fingerprinting by the arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction. By these three genotypic approaches, the three isolates obtained from the infant's cerebrospinal fluid on days 9, 34, and 70, respectively, were found to share the same patterns, which were different from the patterns of control strains. Thus, these three episodes of E. coli K1 meningitis were due to a single strain. DNA-based typing techniques seem extremely promising as tools to be used in unraveling the complex mechanisms of recurrent meningitis.

DNA, Bacterial↗

[RT-PCR in clinical diagnosis].

Application fields of RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) in clinical diagnosis comprises the assessment of viral load for RNA viruses and the analysis of gene transcription products. RT-PCR is also helpful when large genes have to be sequenced. Developments of quantitative approaches using real-time PCR recently led to a major widening of RT-PCR applications in clinical diagnosis. However, RT reaction is delicate due to its lack of reproducibility and to RNA lability and frequent contamination by DNA. In some cases additional difficulties come from the need to obtain a specific amplification in the presence of homologous sequences which might be present in higher amounts than the sequence of interest. These caveats have to be taken into account, when designing the RT protocol, and when choosing PCR primers and internal and/or external references. This review is aimed at helping the experimental setup of a RT-PCR based assay according to the objectives.

Clinical Medicine↗