Cell cycle alterations in the blastoid variant of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL-BV) as detected by gene expression profiling of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and MCL-BV.

Overexpression of cyclin D1 is necessary but by itself insufficient for the development of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). To identify pathways in the pathogenesis of MCL and the blastoid variant (MLC-BV), we compared the gene-expression profiles of microdissected normal mantle cells, MCL, and MCL-BV by oligonucleotide microarrays and quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (QRT-PCR). We identified and confirmed the overexpression of several genes in MCL-BV that are involved in the cell cycle control at the G1/S and G2/M checkpoints or inhibit apoptotic cell death. The highly expressed cyclin dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) is a cell cycle kinase that associates with cyclin D1 for the progression through the G1/S checkpoint, whereas overexpression of cdc28 protein kinase 1 (CKS1) blocks the inhibition of the cyclin D1/CDK4 complex by the CDK inhibitor p27/Kip1. Other highly expressed genes in MCL-BV that promote the cells through the G1/S-checkpoint include the oncogenes B-Myb, PIM1, and PIM2, and passage through the G2/M-checkpoint is enhanced by high levels of cdc25B. Furthermore, two highly expressed genes that inhibit apoptosis are defender against cell death (DAD1) and RSK1. In summary, our microarray and QRT-PCR analyses identified several candidate genes whose expression increased when comparing normal follicular mantles with MCL and MCLBV, suggesting a potential pathogenic role in the evolution of MCL-BV.