Disease relevance of BCL8

• BCL8 is a novel human gene family initially identified through cloning of BCL8A, located at the t(14;15)(q32;q11-q13) translocation breakpoint, in a case of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [1].
• BCL8, a novel gene involved in translocations affecting band 15q11-13 in diffuse large-cell lymphoma [2].

High impact information on BCL8

• By reverse transcription-PCR analysis of RNA extracted from frozen DLCL samples and lymphoma cell lines, BCL8 expression was detected in all patients carrying 15q11-13 abnormalities and in a fraction of randomly selected DLCL patients [2].
• Analysis of the BCL8 cDNA clones isolated from human testis cDNA library showed that the BCL8 gene generates a major transcript of 2.6 kb and a less prominent 4.5-kb species due to differential polyadenylylation [2].
• Ectopic expression of BCL8 in a significant proportion of DLCL suggests an important role for this gene in the molecular pathogenesis of B cell lymphoma [2].
• To identify the putative gene, here named BCL8, involved in these translocations we have cloned the breakpoint region from a DLCL patient with t(14;15)(q32;q11-13) and the corresponding germ-line region from chromosome 15 [2].
• These results suggest that the BCL8 gene is not normally expressed in lymphoid tissues, but its expression can be activated by chromosomal translocation or by other mechanisms in DLCL [2].

Biological context of BCL8

• The phylogenetically conserved BCL8 gene family evolved by transchromosomal and intrachromosomal duplications within the human genome [1].

Anatomical context of BCL8

• A probe derived from the BCL8 locus on chromosome 15 detected a transcript in human testis and prostate, whereas no expression was found in spleen, thymus, and blood leukocytes [2].

Other interactions of BCL8

• LRBA, a human gene with a ubiquitous expression pattern mapping to 4q32, encodes a protein closely related to BCL8 [1].

References