More than 25% of patients with AML carry no mutations in genes known to be associated with leukemia. Analyses of genomes, transcriptomes, and methylomes of AML samples implicate mutations in ...cytogenetically normal AML and provide insight into the relationships among causative genes.
The molecular pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been studied with the use of cytogenetic analysis for more than three decades. Recurrent chromosomal structural variations are well established as diagnostic and prognostic markers, suggesting that acquired genetic abnormalities (i.e., somatic mutations) have an essential role in pathogenesis.
1
,
2
However, nearly 50% of AML samples have a normal karyotype, and many of these genomes lack structural abnormalities, even when assessed with high-density comparative genomic hybridization or single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays
3
–
5
(see Glossary). Targeted sequencing has identified recurrent mutations in
FLT3, NPM1, KIT, CEBPA,
and
TET2
.
6
–
8
Massively parallel . . .
We describe an efficient high-throughput method for accurate DNA sequencing of entire cDNA clones. Developed as part of our involvement in the Mammalian Gene Collection full-length cDNA sequencing ...initiative, the method has been used and refined in our laboratory since September 2000. Amenable to large scale projects, we have used the method to generate >7 Mb of accurate sequence from 3695 candidate full-length cDNAs. Sequencing is accomplished through the insertion of Mu transposon into cDNAs, followed by sequencing reactions primed with Mu-specific sequencing primers. Transposon insertion reactions are not performed with individual cDNAs but rather on pools of up to 96 clones. This pooling strategy reduces the number of transposon insertion sequencing libraries that would otherwise be required, reducing the costs and enhancing the efficiency of the transposon library construction procedure. Sequences generated using transposon-specific sequencing primers are assembled to yield the full-length cDNA sequence, with sequence editing and other sequence finishing activities performed as required to resolve sequence ambiguities. Although analysis of the many thousands (22 785) of sequenced Mu transposon insertion events revealed a weak sequence preference for Mu insertion, we observed insertion of the Mu transposon into 1015 of the possible 1024 5mer candidate insertion sites.