Searching for electrical properties, phenomena and mechanisms in the construction and function of chromosomes.

OUR STUDIES REVEAL PREVIOUSLY UNIDENTIFIED ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF CHROMOSOMES: (1) chromosomes are amazingly similar in construction and function to electrical transformers; (2) chromosomes possess in their construction and function, components similar to those of electric generators, conductors, condensers, switches, and other components of electrical circuits; (3) chromosomes demonstrate in nano-scale level electromagnetic interactions, resonance, fusion and other phenomena similar to those described by equations in classical physics. These electrical properties and phenomena provide a possible explanation for unclear and poorly understood mechanisms in clinical genetics including: (a) electrically based mechanisms responsible for breaks, translocations, fusions, and other chromosomal abnormalities associated with cancer, intellectual disability, infertility, pregnancy loss, Down syndrome, and other genetic disorders; (b) electrically based mechanisms involved in crossing over, non-disjunction and other events during meiosis and mitosis; (c) mechanisms demonstrating heterochromatin to be electrically active and genetically important.

Clonal evolution in t(14;18)-positive follicular lymphoma, evidence for multiple common pathways, and frequent parallel clonal evolution.

PURPOSE: Follicular lymphoma typically has acquired a t(14;18) translocation, but subsequent additional cytogenetic abnormalities contribute to disease progression. The main aims of the study are to (a) identify the frequency and temporal sequence of cytogenetic events in t(14;18)-positive follicular lymphoma, (b) determine if there are specific pathways in the evolution of follicular lymphoma, (c) determine the clonal divergence in cases with sequential biopsies or multiple clones from a single biopsy, and (d) determine the association of genetic imbalances with clinical outcome. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: All cases with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of follicular lymphoma and cytogenetic analysis showing t(14;18)(q32;q21) were included. The karyotypes were reviewed and cytogenetic data were entered into a relational database for further computational analysis; 418 biopsies from 360 follicular lymphoma patients including 43 sequential biopsies were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the cases with only one or two genomic imbalances, the most frequent chromosomal imbalances were +7, del(6q), +der(18)t(14;18), +18, and +X. These abnormalities were also among the most frequent ones encountered when all karyotypes were analyzed. Cytogenetically abnormal clones in the same (26%) and sequential biopsies (63%) often showed divergence of genetic alterations. Balanced translocations other than the t(14;18) were uncommon events, but chromosomal breaks involving 14q32, 18q21, 1p36, 1q21, 10q22, 10q24, and a large cluster at 6q occurred relatively frequently. del(6q), +5, +19, and +20 were associated with poorer overall survival, and del(17p) was associated with poorer event-free survival. Lower-grade tumors (1 and 2) were associated with fewer imbalances. CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggested that +der(18)t(14;18) may be an entry point to a distinct pathway of genetic evolution in follicular lymphoma. The other common early events appeared to provide multiple entry points, and they might cooperate in the pathogenesis and progression of the follicular lymphoma. Cytogenetically abnormal clones from same patients often showed divergence of genetic alterations, suggesting that parallel evolution from precursor clones are frequent events. This study provides the framework for further analysis of genetic pathways of tumor progression.

Lack of a common or characteristic cytogenetic anomaly in solitary fibrous tumor.

Solitary fibrous tumor is a mesenchymal tumor that was initially described as a pleural-based lesion, but later was discovered in many other locations. The light-microscopic appearance of solitary fibrous tumor may overlap with other diagnostic entities; however, consistent tumor cell CD34 immunoreactivity is useful in establishing the diagnosis. Limited data suggest that solitary fibrous tumors are karyotypically diverse, and no common or characteristic anomaly has yet emerged for this entity. Cytogenetic analysis of two solitary fibrous tumors, one peritoneal and the other arising in the liver, revealed predominantly structural abnormalities in the former and numerical imbalances in the latter. Clonal karyotypic abnormalities were lacking in three additional solitary fibrous tumors.

Cytogenetics and fluorescence in situ hybridization studies of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in children and young adults.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common subtype of adult non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), is infrequently seen in adolescents and is rare in children. Due to the infrequency of the disease, single institution-based cytogenetic and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies of pediatric DLBCL have not been reported so far and, hence, the possible differences in pediatric and adult DLBCL have not been evaluated. We performed cytogenetic and FISH analyses of 7 pediatric and 5 young adult DLBCL cases referred to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Karyotypic studies revealed numeric and structural chromosome abnormalities in all cases. Loss of chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 15, 16, and 17, and gain of 12, 18, and X were observed in more than 20% of the cases (#10878;3 cases). Sex chromosome abnormalities and cytogenetically unidentifiable chromosomes and/or segments were observed in 80% (10/12) of the cases. Recurrent breakpoints (observed in 3 or more cases) included 14q32 (IGH) and 17p13 (TP53), which clustered in the young adult group. The breakpoints 7q36, 9p24, 13q34, and 16q24 were noted in two cases each. We performed interphase FISH studies to verify the possible rearrangements of the breakpoints that are frequently implicated in adult DLBCL. Our results confirmed that the pediatric cases did not show rearrangements of 3q27 (BCL6), 14q32 (IGH), 18q21 (BCL2), 8q24 (CMYC), and 17p13 (TP53), except for one case with IGH;BCL2 dual fusion [t(14;18)(q32;q21)] and one with a 17p13 (TP53) deletion. Although 3q27 was noted to be rearranged by conventional cytogenetics in two young adult DLBCL cases, FISH investigations verified that BCL6 was not disrupted. The t(8;14)(q24;q32) with rearranged CMYC ascertained by FISH, was observed in a single young adult DLBCL case. These results highlight a distinctly different representation of cytogenetic abnormalities in pediatric versus adult DLBCL.