Malignant Lymphomas |
From the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany (EMMP, KH, NA, CB, JD); Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Lyon, France (EC-B, SG, FB, GS); University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom (HY, M-QD); Hospital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France CC-B).
Correspondence: Judith Dierlamm, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Oncology and Hematology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany. E-mail: judith_dierlamm{at}yahoo.de
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Key words: t(11, 18), MALT1, variant translocation, MALT lymphoma.
So far, only one variant translocation of the t(11;18)(q21;q21) has been described, the three-way translocation t(11;12;18) (q21;q13;q21), occurring in a mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the lung.1,2 Cloning of the t(11;12;18) showed that the pathologically relevant event is the fusion of API2 and MALT1, similar to the standard t(11;18). Both translocations lead to a fusion of the three baculovirus IAP repeat (BIR) domains present in the N-terminus of API2 and a variable part of MALT1, which always contains the caspase p20-like domain.3–9 The chimeric protein resulting from the t(11;18) effectively activates the NF-
B transcription factor and confers a potential pro-survival signal in B cells.8,9 The t(11;18) represents the most common structural chromosomal abnormality in MALT lymphomas and occurs in 20 to 50% of the cases.7,10–13 The recognition of the t(11;18) and its variants is of particular importance, since the t(11;18) characterizes the clinically distinct low grade MALT lymphomas and identifies gastric MALT lymphomas, which respond poorly to Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy, even those at an early stage.14
In this report, we describe the cytogenetic and molecular genetic features of two new variant translocations, the t(6;18;11) (q24;q21;q21) and the t(11;14;18) (q21;q32; q21), both occurring in MALT lymphomas.
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Figure 1. A, B. R-banded karyotypes of the two patients with the three-way variant translocations t(6;18;11) (q24;q21;q21) and t(11;14;18) (q21;q32;q21). Arrows point to the abnormal chromosomes. C, D. Dual color FISH analysis of the t(6;18;11) and t(11;14;18) using PAC 116G16 spanning the API2 gene (green) and PAC 59N7 hybridizing distal to MALT1 (red). Hybridization signals of the PAC 116G16 are located on the derivative chromosome 11 and on the derivative chromosomes 6 and 14, respectively. Hybridization signals of the PAC 59N7 are seen on the derivative chromosomes 11 in both cases. Fusion signals of PAC 116G16 and PAC 59N7 are detected on the derivative chromosomes 11 in both cases.
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Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)
Interphase FISH was performed according to standard methods using methanol-acetic acid fixed tumor cells. For the detection of the 5'API2-3'MALT1 fusion P1 artificial chromosome (PAC) clones 59N7 and 116G16 were used as previously described.10 PAC 59N7 contains genomic sequences derived immediately downstream of the MALT1 gene. The PAC clone 166G16 spans approximately 100 kb and contains the complete API2 gene.10 For the t(6;18;11), painting probes for chromosomes 6, 11, and 18 (Clinisciences, Montrouge, France) were applied to confirm the three-way translocation. To demonstrate the exchange of genetic material between chromosomes 18 and 14 in the t(11;14;18), PAC clone 117B5 containing genomic sequences derived immediately upstream of MALT110,12 and a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clone hybridizing to sequences of the variable region of the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus (IGH) on 14q32 (YAC Y6)15 were applied. Cosmid clones C
1 (hybridizing to the alpha constant region of IGH)15 and C3/64 (hybridizing to the delta constant and joining region of IGH)15 were used to narrow the breakpoint within IGH. PAC 59N7 and cosmid C
1 were used to exclude the presence of a IGH-MALT1 fusion product resulting from the standard t(14;18) (q32;q21) observed in MALT lymphomas.12,16
MALT1 immunohistochemistry
MALT1 was immunostained in both cases with mouse monoclonal antibodies to the MALT1 amino terminus and the MALT1 carboxyl terminus as previously described.17 The antibody against the MALT1 amino terminus recognizes full-length MALT1, but not the API2-MALT1 fusion product, whereas the antibody against the MALT1 carboxyl terminus reacts with both full-length MALT1 and the API2-MALT1 fusion product. In addition, in the case with t(11;14;18), immunohistochemistry using a mouse monoclonal antibody for BCL10 (clone 151) was performed as previously described.17 The case with t(6;18;11) could not be stained for BCL10 because of lack of suitable material.
Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
Total RNA was isolated using the RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). First-strand cDNA was reverse transcribed from 1µg of total RNA with the SuperScript Preamplification System and oligo(dT) primer (Invitrogen, Karlsruhe, Germany). For the detection of the 5'API2-3'MALT1 fusion transcript a forward primer specific for exon 7 of API2 (API2-7f1) and a reverse primer specific for exon 11 of MALT1 (MALT1-11r) were used.1 The reciprocal MALT1-API2 fusion was analyzed with primers specific for exon 3 of MALT1 (MALT1-3f) and exon 8 of API2 (API2-8r).1 All primer sequences are summarized in Table 1. Amplification products were cloned in pGEM T-easy (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) sequenced and analyzed using the BLAST algorithm at NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast).
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Table 1. Oligonucleotide primer sequences.
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Real-time quantitative-PCR
The API1, API2, and MMP7 genes are located on chromosome 11q21 close to each other and their expression could be altered by the juxtaposition to the IGH locus in the t(11;14;18). Therefore, quantitative real-time PCR was performed to quantify the API1, API2, and MMP7 mRNA expression in this case using LightCycler technology (Roche, Mannheim, Germany). The QuantiTect SYBR Green PCR (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) kit was used for amplification. RNA levels were calculated relative to porphobilinogen deaminase gene (PBGD) expression using the Relative Expression Software Tool (REST).18 Lymph nodes and lung tissue from healthy donors were used as controls to calculate the relative mRNA expression of API1 and MMP7. The API2 gene expression in the case with the t(11;14;18) was compared with that in six t(11;18)-positive MALT lymphomas. Primer sequences are shown in Table 1.
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In the case with the t(11;14;18), FISH experiments with PAC 117B512 and YAC Y615 demonstrated a co-localization of genomic sequences derived immediately upstream of MALT1 and sequences of the variable region of the IGH locus on the derivative chromosome 18. Moreover, FISH with cosmid clones hybridizing to the alpha constant (C
1) and the delta constant and joining region (C3/64) of IGH, respectively, showed hybridization signals on the derivative chromosome 14 narrowing the breakpoint on chromosome 14 to a region between the joining region and the variable region gene segments of IGH. Further analyses were performed to investigate the possibility of an IGH-MALT1 rearrangement, resulting from a t(14;18), in addition to the API2-MALT1 fusion. FISH with probes 59N7 and C
1 did not reveal fusion signals of these probes. The analysis of metaphases showed the localization of PAC 59N7 on chromosome 18 and the der(11) but not on the der(14). Cosmid C
1 was seen on chromosome 14 and the der(14). These results support the assumption that the translocations t(11;18) and t(14;18) are mutually exclusive.12,16
Immunohistochemistry with both amino terminus and carboxyl terminus MALT1 antibodies showed weak MALT1 cytoplasmic staining in the cases with a t(6;18;11) and t(11;14;18), similar to the MALT1 expression pattern seen in t(11;18)-positive MALT lymphomas.17 In contrast, IGH-MALT1/t(14;18)-positive MALT lymphomas are characterized by strong cytoplasmic expression of MALT1.17 The case with the t(11;14;18) showed weak nuclear BCL10 expression, similar to the expression observed in t(11;18)-positive MALT lymphomas.17
The API2-MALT1 fusion transcript was confirmed by RT-PCR using a primer specific for exon 7 of the API2 gene in combination with a primer specific for exon 11 of MALT1.1 DNA sequencing revealed an in-frame fusion of exon 7 of API2 and MALT1 in both cases. The breakpoints within MALT1 were found in intron 7 of the transcript variant 1 of MALT1 in the t(6;18;11) and intron 4 of the transcript variant 2 of MALT1 in t(11;14;18) (Figure 2). These findings reveal that, analogously to the classical t(11;18), these variant translocations lead to a fusion of the three baculovirus IAP repeat (BIR) domains of API2 and the caspase-like domain of MALT1. The API2 breakpoints in the t(11;18) occur in the vast majority of reported cases upstream of exon 8, whereas the breakpoints within the MALT1 gene have been reported to lie upstream of exons 3, 5, 8, and 9.3–7,20
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Figure 2. Schematic representation showing the localization of the breakpoints within API2 and MALT1 and the corresponding fusion products in the t(6;18;11) (case 1) and the t(11;14;18) (case 2). The corresponding chromosomal ideograms illustrating the three-way translocations t(6;18;11) and t(11;14;18) are shown.
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Summarizing our data, the presence of the API2-MALT1 fusion transcript, the typical MALT1 and BCL10 protein expression, the exclusive detection of wild type API2 and MALT1 sequences by RACE-PCR analysis, and the absence of a reciprocal MALT1-API2 transcript due to the complex rearrangements, point to API2-MALT1 as the pathogenetically relevant transcript in the t(6;18;11) and the t(11;14;18) and underline the crucial role of the API2-MALT1 fusion in the pathogenesis of MALT lymphomas.
Since only three variant translocations of the t(11;18) have been reported so far, more cases need to be analyzed to determine whether clustering to particular chromosomal bands occurs in these variant translocations, and whether MALT lymphomas harboring t(11;18)-variant translocations differ clinically from those with the classical t(11;18).
EMMP: designed and performed the research, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper; EC-B, CC-B, SG, FB and GS: provided patients samples, cytogenetic data, clinical data and revised the article for intellectual content; KH and NA: performed the research, analyzed the data; CB: revised the article for intellectual content; JD: designed the research, analyzed the data, and made a significant contribution to the discussion. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
The authors reported no potential conflicts of interest.
Funding: this work was supported by the Deutsche Krebshilfe, grant 106092 (J.D.). We thank Dr. F. Matsuda (Center for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan) for providing the YAC clone Y6.
Received for publication May 12, 2006. Accepted for publication February 8, 2007.
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B signaling pathway. J Biol Chem 2001;276:19012-9.
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