Expression of the Evi-1 gene in haemopoietic cells of children with juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia and normal donors

Activation of the Evi-1 gene was first described to be associated with the transformation of murine myeloid leukaemias and has previously been detected in cases of human acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in blast crises and in myelodysplastic syndromes. In this study we determined the frequency and the level of Evi-1 expression in juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML) and in normal haemopoiesis. Using RT-PCR and Southern blot hybridization mRNA of Evi-1 could be detected in bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) mononuclear cells (MNC) of normal donors. In JMML 12/20 patients examined expressed elevated levels of Evi-1 compared to normal controls. In these samples over-expression of the gene was correlated with a higher percentage of blasts (P = 0.02). Expression levels in BFU-E and CFU-GM derived colonies from BM of JMML patients were lower than those in the corresponding MNC samples. Analysis of CD34+ and CD34- cells demonstrated that Evi-1 is primarily expressed in the CD34+ cell population of both JMML and normal donors. These findings suggest that Evi-1 expression is linked to the early stages of haemopoiesis. Studies on the regulation of Evi-1 expression in CD34+ cells will elucidate its function in progenitor cells and clarify its possible role in the pathogenesis of JMML.