A quantitative trait locus responsible for inducing B-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma is a hotspot for microsatellite instability.

While the molecular mechanisms underlying microsatellite instability (MSI) have been exhaustively investigated, identifying the patterns of MSI distribution within diverse cancer genomes has remained an elusive issue. In the present study, we conducted genome-wide MSI screening in B-cell lymphoblastic lymphomas (B-LBL) which spontaneously develop in the SL/Kh strain of mice. Tumor samples harvested from 16 mice were investigated using a framework map consisting of 150 microsatellite markers spaced at increments of roughly 0.5-3.0 centimorgans, spanning the entirety of mouse chromosomes (mus musculus chromosomes [MMU]) 3-6. MMU3 contains a quantitative trait locus (QTL), Bomb1 (bone marrow pre-B1), known to induce an aberrant expansion of pre-B cells in bone marrow prior to the onset of B-LBL in SL/Kh mice. The remaining chromosomes were selected on the basis of those most closely resembling MMU3 in terms of total estimated length (maximum variance 10 Mb). MSI was confirmed at 2<or= markers in DNA derived from tumor tissues in 15 SL/Kh mice (93.7%), while healthy splenic DNA samples screened in parallel were consistently negative for MSI. The overall MSI incidence was significantly higher on MMU3 compared with MMU4-6 (P = 0.031). Additionally, by applying spatial point pattern analysis combined with a 1-D version of Ripley's K-function, we successfully demonstrated the predilection of MSI-susceptible loci to structure a massive cluster within the Bomb1 locus. Our study is the first to suggest that a QTL concomitantly serves as a hotspot for MSI-susceptible loci and sheds new light on somatic cancer genetics.