Molecular variability of FLT3/ITD mutants and their impact on the differentiation program of 32D cells: implications for the biological properties of AML blasts.

FLT3 is the most frequently mutated gene in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), with internal tandem duplications (ITDs) accounting for up to 30% of its mutations. To analyze the impact of individual ITDs on the expression profile of immature myeloid cells, we have established 32D cell lines expressing nine different FLT3/ITDs isolated from AML patients and subjected them to whole genome expression profiling and 2DE/LC/MS proteomics. Our data indicate that in comparison to the controls, FLT3/ITD-positive 32D cells exhibit less mature expression profiles resembling early hematopoietic progenitors. Moreover, our results suggest that there exist biological differences among individual ITD variants.