Cognitive abilities and life experience in everyday planning in adolescents with intellectual disabilities: Support for the difference model.

BACKGROUND: The literature on planning ability in individuals with intellectual disability (ID) provides no clarity on whether their ability matches their mental age (MA) or not. Perhaps can planning experience explain the mixed results. The current study investigated to what extent cognitive abilities and life experience can explain everyday planning ability in individuals with ID and to what extent results from everyday planning tasks support the developmental or the difference model of ID. METHOD: Planning tests, cognitive ability tasks and a self-rated life experience form were administered to 71 adolescents with ID and 62 children with a typical development matched on MA. RESULTS: Adolescents with ID exhibited planning ability according to their MA. Regression analyses showed that the predictors of planning differed between the groups. The cognitive measures could predict planning in both groups, but life experience only contributed positively to planning in the MA group, whereas chronological age was negatively correlated with successful planning in the ID group. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION: The results support the difference model of ID. When matched on MA, the individuals with ID will solve the planning task in a qualitatively different manner. Additionally, the participants with ID could not utilise their life experience when solving the planning task, contrary to the MA group. Practitioners should be aware that individuals with ID might need more everyday planning training throughout adolescence. To support adolescents with ID, practitioners may focus on supporting the individual's cognitive abilities rather than relying on their prior knowledge.

Minimal residual disease monitoring in childhood B lymphoblastic leukemia with t(12;21)(p13;q22); ETV6-RUNX1: concordant results using quantitation of fusion transcript and flow cytometry.

INTRODUCTION: The translocation t(12;21)(p13;q22) resulting in the fusion gene ETV6-RUNX1, is the most frequent gene fusion in childhood B lymphoblastic leukemia. In the Nordic Society of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology ALL-2008 treatment protocol, treatment stratification in B-lineage ALL is based on results of minimal residual disease (MRD) analysis with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). In this study, we determined whether RT-qPCR of the ETV6-RUNX1 fusion transcript can be a reliable alternative for MRD analysis. METHODS: Seventy-eight bone marrow samples from 29 children at diagnosis and day 15, 29, and 78 during treatment were analyzed for MRD with FACS and with quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Fusion transcript MRD was defined as the ETV6-RUNX1/GUSB ratio at the follow-up time point (day 15/29/78) divided with the ETV6-RUNX1/GUSB ratio at diagnosis (%). RESULTS: MRD analysis with FACS and with RT-qPCR of ETV6-RUNX1 fusion transcript showed strong correlation. All cases showed concordant results at the treatment stratifying time points day 29 and day 78, when comparing the two methods with a cutoff set to 0.1%. CONCLUSION: RT-qPCR is a valuable addition and could also be an alternative to FACS in cases where FACS is not achievable for MRD analysis.

Upregulation of Flt3 is a passive event in Hoxa9/Meis1-induced acute myeloid leukemia in mice.

HOXA9, MEIS1 and FLT3 are genes frequently upregulated in human acute myeloid leukemia. Hoxa9 and Meis1 also cooperate to induce aggressive AML with high Flt3 expression in mice, suggesting an important role for Flt3 in Hoxa9/Meis1-induced leukemogenesis. To define the role of Flt3 in AML with high Hoxa9/Meis1, we treated mice with Hoxa9/Meis1-induced AML with the Flt3 inhibitor AC220, used an Flt3-ligand (FL-/-) knockout model, and investigated whether overexpression of Flt3 could induce leukemia together with overexpression of Hoxa9. Flt3 inhibition by AC220 did not delay AML development in mice transplanted with bone marrow cells overexpressing Hoxa9 and Meis1. In addition, Hoxa9/Meis1 cells induced AML in FL-/- mice as rapid as in wild-type mice. However, FL-/- mice had reduced organ infiltration compared with wild-type mice, suggesting some Flt3-dependent effect on leukemic invasiveness. Interestingly, leukemic Hoxa9/Meis1 cells from sick mice expressed high levels of Flt3 regardless of presence of its ligand, showing that Flt3 is a passive marker on these cells. In line with this, combined engineered overexpression of Flt3 and Hoxa9 did not accelerate the progression to AML. We conclude that the Hoxa9- and Meis1-associated upregulation of Flt3 is not a requirement for leukemic progression induced by Hoxa9 and Meis1.

Wild-type KRAS inhibits oncogenic KRAS-induced T-ALL in mice.

The role of hyperactive RAS signaling is well established in myeloid malignancies but less clear in T-cell malignancies. The Kras2(LSL)Mx1-Cre (KM) mouse model expresses endogenous KRAS(G12D) in hematopoietic cells and is widely used to study mechanisms and treatment of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). The model displays an intriguing shift from MPN to acute T-cell leukemia (T-ALL) after transplantation to wild-type mice, but the mechanisms underlying this lineage shift is unknown. Here, we show that KRAS(G12D) increases proliferation of both myeloid and T-cell progenitors, but whereas myeloid cells differentiate, T-cell differentiation is inhibited at early stages. Secondary mutations in the expanded pool of T-cell progenitors accompany T-ALL development, and our results indicate that the shift from myeloid to T-lymphoid malignancy after transplantation is explained by the increased likelihood for secondary mutations when the tumor lifespan is increased. We demonstrate that tumor lifespan increases after transplantation because primary KM mice die rapidly, not from MPN, but from KRAS(G12D) expression in nonhematopoietic cells, which causes intestinal bleeding and severe anemia. We also identify loss of the wild-type KRAS allele as a secondary mutation in all T-ALL cells and provide evidence that wild-type KRAS acts as a tumor suppressor in the T-cell lineage in mice.

The frequency and prognostic impact of dic(9;20)(p13.2;q11.2) in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia: results from the NOPHO ALL-2000 trial.

The dic(9;20)(p13.2;q11.2) is reported to be present in ∼2% of childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP ALL). However, it easily escapes detection by G-banding analysis and its true prevalence is hence unknown. We performed interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses-in a three-step manner-using probes for: (i) CDKN2A at 9p21, (ii) 20p and 20q subtelomeres and (iii) cen9 and cen20. Out of 1033 BCP ALLs diagnosed from 2001 to 2006, 533 were analyzed; 16% (84/533) displayed 9p21 deletions, of which 30% (25/84) had dic(9;20). Thus, dic(9;20)-positivity was found in 4.7% (25/533), making it the third most common genetic subgroup after high hyperdiploidy and t(12;21)(p13;q22). The dic(9;20) was associated with a female predominance and an age peak at 3 years; 18/25 (72%) were allocated to non-standard risk treatment at diagnosis. Including cases detected by G-banding alone, 29 dic(9;20)-positive cases were treated according to the NOPHO ALL 2000 protocol. Relapses occurred in 24% (7/29) resulting in a 5-year event-free survival of 0.69, which was significantly worse than for t(12;21) (0.87; P=0.002) and high hyperdiploidy (0.82; P=0.04). We conclude that dic(9;20) is twice as common as previously surmised, with many cases going undetected by G-banding analysis, and that dic(9;20) should be considered a non-standard risk abnormality.

No association between the alpha2-macroglobulin (A2M) deletion and Alzheimer's disease, and no change in A2M mRNA, protein, or protein expression.

A polymorphism consisting of a deletion near the 5' splice site of exon 18 on the alpha2-macroglobulin (A2M) gene (A2M-2) has been suggested to be associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in family-based studies. We studied the A2M-2 allele together with the ApoE alleles in a large series on patients with AD (n = 449) and age-matched controls (n = 349). Neuropathologically confirmed diagnoses were available in 199 cases (94 AD and 107 control cases). We found no increase in A2M-2 genotype or allele frequencies in AD (27.5% and 14.6%) versus controls (26.4% and 14.9%). In contrast, a marked increase (p < 0.0001) in ApoE epsilon4 genotype or allele frequencies was found in AD (66.6% and 41.2%) as compared with controls (29.8% and 16.5%), suggesting sufficient statistical power in our sample. No relation was found between the A2M-2 and the ApoE epsilon4 allele. No change in A2M exon 17-18 mRNA size or sequence or A2M protein size was found in cases carrying the A2M-2 deletion, suggesting that there is no biological consequences of the A2M intronic deletion. No change in A2M protein level in cerebrospinal fluid was found in AD, suggesting that the A2M-2 allele does not effect the A2M protein expression in the brain. The lack of an association between the A2M-2 allele and AD in the present study, and the lack of abnormalities in the A2M mRNA or protein suggest that the A2M-2 allele is not associated with AD.

An ATF/CRE element mediates both EBNA2-dependent and EBNA2-independent activation of the Epstein-Barr virus LMP1 gene promoter.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is a viral oncogene whose expression is regulated by both viral and cellular factors. EBV nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2) is a potent transactivator of LMP1 expression in human B cells, and several EBNA2 response elements have been identified in the promoter regulatory sequence (LRS). We have previously shown that an activating transcription factor/cyclic AMP response element (ATF/CRE) site in LRS is involved in EBNA2 responsiveness. We now establish the importance of the ATF/CRE element by mutational analysis and show that both EBNA2-dependent activation and EBNA2-independent activation of the promoter occur via this site but are mediated by separate sets of factors. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) with specific antibodies showed that the ATF-1, CREB-1, ATF-2 and c-Jun factors bind to the site as ATF-1/CREB-1 and ATF-2/c-Jun heterodimers whereas the Sp1 and Sp3 factors bind to an adjacent Sp site. Overexpression of ATF-1 and CREB-1 in the cells by expression vectors demonstrated that homodimeric as well as heterodimeric forms of the factors transactivate the LMP1 promoter in an EBNA2-independent manner. The homodimers of ATF-2 and c-Jun did not significantly stimulate promoter activity. In contrast, the ATF-2/c-Jun heterodimer had only a minor stimulatory effect in the absence of EBNA2 but induced a strong transactivation of the LMP1 promoter when coexpressed with this protein. Evidence for a direct interaction between the ATF-2/c-Jun heterodimeric complex and EBNA2 was obtained by EMSA and coimmunoprecipitation experiments. Thus, our results suggest that EBNA2-induced transactivation via the ATF/CRE site occurs through a direct contact between EBNA2 and an ATF-2/c-Jun heterodimer. EBNA2-independent promoter activation via this site, on the other hand, is mediated by a heterodimeric complex between the ATF-1 and CREB-1 factors.

Response to cAMP levels of the Epstein-Barr virus EBNA2-inducible LMP1 oncogene and EBNA2 inhibition of a PP1-like activity.

The expression of the Epstein-Barr virus LMP1 oncogene is regulated by viral and non-viral factors in a tissue dependent fashion. The virus encoded transcription factor EBNA2 induces its expression in human B-cells. However, this induction also requires the contribution of cellular and/or other viral factors. In nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and in cells from Hodgkin's lymphoma, LMP1 gene transcription is independent of viral products. Here we show that the effect of a factor binding to a cAMP responsive-like element (CRE) in the LMP1 gene transcription regulatory sequence (LRS) is essential for efficient promoter activity in the DG75 B-cell line and that elevation of cAMP levels in the cells induces LRS-derived CAT activity in a CRE dependent fashion. Incubation of two EBV-immortalized B-cell lines expressing endogenous EBNA2A with 8-Br cAMP increased the levels of the latency associated 66 kDa LMP1 within 2 h. Interestingly, LMP1 expression in DG75 cells conferred resistance to the inhibitory effect of 8-Br cAMP on cell proliferation. The protein phosphatase 1 and 2A (PP1 and PP2A, respectively) inhibitor okadaic acid also stimulated LRS-CAT activity in DG75 cells. EBNA2A from an EBV-immortalized B-cell line co-immunopurified with a PP1-like protein. An EBNA2A fragment spanning residues 324-436 fused to the GST protein specifically rescued a PP1/PP2A-like component from DG75 cell extracts. This GST-EBNA2A fusion product inhibited a PP1-like activity in nuclear extracts from these cells.