Schneider, P.

Hypermethylation of specific microRNA genes in MLL-rearranged infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia: major matters at a micro scale (Article)

2010-11-30T00:00:00Z

MLL-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in infants (<1 year) is the most aggressive type of childhood leukemia. To develop more suitable treatment strategies, a firm understanding of the biology underlying this disease is of utmost importance. MLL-rearranged ALL displays a unique gene expression profile, partly explained by erroneous histone modifications. We recently showed that t(4;11)-positive infant ALL is also characterized by pronounced promoter CpG hypermethylation. In this study, we investigated whether this widespread hypermethylation also affected microRNA (miRNA) expression. We identified 11 miRNAs that were downregulated in t(4;11)-positive infant ALL as a consequence of CpG hypermethylation. Seven of these miRNAs were re-activated after exposure to the de-methylating agent Zebularine. Interestingly, five of these miRNAs are associated either with MLL or MLL fusions, and for miR-152 we found both MLL and DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) as potential targeted genes. Finally, a high degree of methylation of the miR-152 CpG island was strongly correlated with a poor clinical outcome. Our data suggests that inhibitors of methylation have a potential beyond re-expression of hypermethylated protein-coding genes in t(4;11)-positive infant ALL. In this study, we provide additional evidence that they should be tested for their efficacy in MLL-rearranged infant ALL in in vivo models.Leukemia advance online publication, 30 November 2010; doi:10.1038/leu.2010.282.

Substantial contribution of submicroscopical Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte carriage to the infectious reservoir in an area of seasonal transmission (Article)

2009-12-01T00:00:00Z

Background: Man to mosquito transmission of malaria depends on the presence of the sexual stage parasites, gametocytes, that often circulate at low densities. Gametocyte densities below the microscopical threshold of detection may be sufficient to infect mosquitoes but the importance of submicroscopical gametocyte carriage in different transmission settings is unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings: Membrane feeding experiments were carried out on 80 children below 14 years of age at the end of the wet season in an area of seasonal malaria transmission in Burkina Faso. Gametocytes were quantified by microscopy and by Pfs25-based quantitative nucleic acid sequence-based amplification assay (QT-NASBA). The children's infectiousness was determined by membrane feeding experiments in which a venous blood sample was offered to locally reared Anopheles mosquitoes. Gametocytes were detected in 30.0% (24/80) of the children by microscopy compared to 91.6% (65/71) by QT-NASBA (p<0.001). We observed a strong association between QT-NASBA gametocyte density and infection rates (p =0.007). Children with microscopically detectable gametocytes were more likely to be infectious (68.2% compared to 31.7% of carriers of submicroscopical gametocytes, p=0.001), and on average infected more mosquitoes (13.2% compared to 2.3%, p<0.001). However, because of the high prevalence of submicroscopical gametocyte carriage in the study population, carriers of sub-microscopical gametocytes were responsible for 24.2% of the malaria transmission in this population. Conclusions/Significance: Submicroscopical gametocyte carriage is common in an area of seasonal transmission in Burkina Faso and contributes substantially to the human infectious reservoir. Submicroscopical gametocyte carriage should therefore be considered when implementing interventions that aim to reduce malaria transmission.

Targeting FLT3 in primary MLL-gene-rearranged infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Article)

2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in infants is characterized by rearrangements of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene, drug resistance, and a poor treatment outcome. Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies are needed to improve prognosis. Recently, we showed that FLT3 is highly expressed in MLL rearranged ALL (MLL). Here we demonstrate FLT3 expression in infants with MLL (n = 41) to be significantly higher compared to both infant (n = 8; P < .001) and noninfant patients with ALL (n = 23; P = .001) carrying germline MLL genes. Furthermore, leukemic cells from infants with MLL were significantly more sensitive to the Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) inhibitor PKC412 (N-benzoyl staurosporine) than noninfant ALL cells, and at least as sensitive as internal tandem duplication-positive (ITD+) AML cells. Surprisingly, activation loop mutations only occurred in about 3% (1 of 36) of the cases and no FLT3/ITDs were observed. However, measuring FLT3 phosphorylation in infants with MLL expressing varying levels of wild-type FLT3 revealed that high-level FLT3 expression is associated with ligand-independent FLT3 activation. This suggests that infant MLL cells displaying activated FLT3 as a result of overexpression can be targeted by FLT3 inhibitors such as PKC412. However, at concentrations of PKC412 minimally required to fully inhibit FLT3 phosphorylation, the cytotoxic effects were only fractional. Thus, PKC412-induced apoptosis in infant MLL cells is unlikely to be a consequence of FLT3 inhibition alone but may involve inhibition of multiple other kinases by this drug.