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- FIGURE 44.1-1. Schematic representation of chromosomal translocations
- involving the BCL-2 gene. (A) The germline configuration of the BCL-2
- gene, mapping to 18q21. In its germline configuration, BCL-2 is
- composed of three exons with a large intron between exons 2 and 3. The
- coding region of the BCL-2 gene is indicated by black boxes, and
- noncoding exons (or portions of exons) are indicated by white boxes.
- The BCL-2 promoters within exon 1 are indicated by arrows. The
- location of the major breakpoint region (MBR), where most BCL-2
- breakpoints fall, is indicated by an arrow. (B) Molecular consequences
- of t(14;18)(q32;q21), which causes the juxtaposition of BCL-2 to the
- IgH locus. Both the genomic configuration of a representative
- translocated BCL-2 allele and the resulting cDNA are shown. The
- translocated breakpoint within BCL-2 most frequently involves the MBR
- (as shown here), although approximately 20% of cases break within a
- region located 3' of the MBR, and designated as minor cluster region
- (mcr; not shown). Within the IgH locus, the breakpoint involves JH
- sequences. Notably, the BCL-2 coding sequence of the translocated
- BCL-2 allele is intact. The resulting cDNA is represented by the
- fusion of BCL-2 exons 1 through 3 (at the 5' side of the transcript)
- with JH and Cmu exons derived from IgH (at the 3' side of the
- transcript). Since the BCL-2 coding region is preserved, the hybrid
- BCL-2/IgH transcript gives rise to a normal BCL-2 protein. See the
- text for the description of the functional consequences of BCL-2
- translocations on the transcriptional regulation of BCL-2.
-