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Lookup NU author(s): Professor James Allan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is an adult B cell malignancy. Genome-wide association studies show that variation at 15q15.1 influences CLL risk. We deciphered the causal variant at 15q15.1 and the mechanism by which it influences tumorigenesis. We imputed all possible genotypes across the locus and then mapped highly associated SNPs to areas of chromatin accessibility, evolutionary conservation, and transcription factor binding. SNP rs539846 C>A, the most highly associated variant (p = 1.42 x 10(-13), odds ratio = 1.35), localizes to a superenhancer defined by extensive histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation in intron 3 of B cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2)-modifying factor (BMF). The rs539846-A risk allele alters a conserved RELA-binding motif, disrupts RELA binding, and is associated with decreased BMF expression in CLL. These findings are consistent with rs539846 influencing CLL susceptibility through differential RELA binding, with direct modulation of BMF expression impacting on anti-apoptotic BCL2, a hallmark of oncogenic dependency in CLL.
Author(s): Kandaswamy R, Sava GP, Speedy HE, Beà S, Martin-Subero JI, Studd JB, Migliorini G, Law PJ, Puente XS, Martín-García D, Salaverria I, Gutiérrez-Abrill J, López-Otín C, Catovsky D, Allan JM, Campo E, Houlston RS
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Cell Reports
Year: 2016
Volume: 16
Issue: 8
Pages: 2061-2067
Online publication date: 11/08/2016
Acceptance date: 20/07/2016
Date deposited: 18/10/2016
ISSN (electronic): 2211-1247
Publisher: Cell Press
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2016.07.053
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2016.07.053
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