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Cell death by apoptosis in acute leukaemia
Author(s) -
Baxter Glenn D.,
Collins Russell J.,
Harmon Brian V.,
Kumar Sharad,
Prentice Roger L.,
Smith Peter J.,
Lavin Martin F.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.1711580207
Subject(s) - dna fragmentation , fragmentation (computing) , apoptosis , chromatin , programmed cell death , acute lymphocytic leukemia , apoptotic dna fragmentation , biology , myeloid leukaemia , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , dna , leukemia , lymphoblastic leukemia , genetics , ecology
We have previously demonstrated that when freshly isolated childhood T‐cetl acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cells are incubated in growth medium after isolation from blood, chromatin is rapidly cleaved into nucleosomal sized fragments that are multiples of 200 bp. The fragmentation is similar to that observed in other types of cells undergoing apoptosis or programmed cell death. In this study we describe a more comprehensive approach to the study of DNA fragmentation in leukaemia. Fragmentation was observed in freshly isolated cells from patients with T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and in one with common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Frozen samples of T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and acute myeloid leukaemia cells also showed fragmentation of DNA. However, no fragmentation was evident in normal leukocytes treated under the same conditions. Ultrastructural studies on the isolated leukaemia cells demonstrate that the chromatin cleavage observed biochemically is associated with morphological changes characteristic of apoptosis.