Molecular analysis of the leukaemic B cell in adult and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IgH gene) rearrangements are found in the majority of cases of B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). We have examined bone marrow samples taken at presentation or relapse from 109 patients (79 adults and 30 children) and have performed sequence analysis of the complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) on 65 alleles from 54 patients. We aimed to define immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) variable segment family use and investigate biological and structural features of the B cell in adult and childhood ALL. Using the FR1 fingerprinting method, a rearranged band was identified in 70 (89%) of 79 adult ALL and in 29 (97%) of 30 childhood ALL. This study found no preferential use or selection of IgH VH genes and no statistically significant structural differences between normal and leukaemic B cells in either adult and childhood ALL. An equal proportion of amplifiable cases of adult and childhood ALL uses more than one VH family gene (24/70, 34%, and 8/29, 27.5%, respectively). There were no significant differences in the structure or size of the CDR3 region and the variable (V) or joining (J) segment use in ALL patients compared to normal B cells. We observed that the N2 region was shorter than N1 in children whereas the opposite was observed in adults (not statistically significant). The J4 segment was a more common rearrangement in children than in adults, and in both groups J4 was more frequently associated with multiple D segment VDJ rearrangements. An increase in VH6 use in leukaemic alleles compared to normal B lymphocytes (2%) was observed but it was not statistically significant in our group of patients. Amongst children and adults, in-frame CDR3 junctions occurred in 78% and 64% of rearranged alleles, respectively, compared to 75% of in-frame sequences reported by others to occur among normal B cells.