MOZ is fused to p300 in an acute monocytic leukemia with t(8;22)

Abstract

We report on the fusion of the monocytic leukemia zinc finger protein (MOZ) gene to the adenoviral E1A-associated protein p300 (p300) gene in acute monocytic leukemia M5 associated with a t(8;22)(p11;q13) translocation. We studied two patients with double-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using the yeast artificial chromosome 176C9 and the bacterial artificial chromosome clone H59D10 specific to the MOZ and p300 genes, respectively. Both probes were split in the patients' chromosome metaphase cells, and the two derivative chromosomes were each labeled with both probes. We showed by Southern blot the rearrangement of the MOZ gene, and cloned the fusion transcripts in one patient carrying the t(8;22) by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction using MOZ- and p300-specific primers. Both fusion transcripts were expressed. This result defines a novel reciprocal translocation involving two acetyltransferases, MOZ and p300, resulting in an abnormal transcriptional co-activator that could play a critical role in leukemogenesis.