Gene expression profiling in myelodysplastic syndromes. Homo sapiens

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogenous group of hematopoietic stem cell disorders characterized by dysplastic blood cell formation and peripheral blood cytopenias. Up to 30% of patients with MDS will progress to a highly chemotherapy-resistant secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML). We identified mutations in U2AF1 in MDS patients and patients with U2AF1 mutations are at an increased risk of developing sAML. Overall design: We identified mutations in U2AF1 in patients with MDS and hypothesized that U2AF1 mutations may represent a novel mechanism that could alter gene expression in MDS. To elucidate gene expression changes associated with U2AF1 mutations, we analyzed the global mRNA expression profile obtained from bone marrow CD34+ cells purified from 6 MDS patients with a U2AF1 mutation, 9 MDS patients without a mutation, and 4 normal donors.