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. 1989 Jul;9(7):2798–2805. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.7.2798

A bcr-v-abl oncogene induces lymphomas in transgenic mice.

I K Hariharan 1, A W Harris 1, M Crawford 1, H Abud 1, E Webb 1, S Cory 1, J M Adams 1
PMCID: PMC362745  PMID: 2789335

Abstract

In chronic myeloid leukemia and some cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a 9;22 chromosome translocation has fused most of the c-abl oncogene to a gene designated bcr. To explore in vivo the biological effects of the chimeric gene, we introduced a facsimile of the translocation product, a bcr-v-abl gene, into the mouse germ line under the control of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain enhancer or a retroviral long terminal repeat. Some transgenic mice bearing either construct developed clonal lymphoid tumors. T lymphomas predominated, but some pre-B lymphomas developed. The transgenes were expressed in the tumors but not detectably in the lymphoid tissues of nontumorous transgenic animals, implying that transcription is activated by a low-frequency somatic event. These results demonstrate that bcr-v-abl is tumorigenic in vivo and provide a new animal model for lymphomagenesis.

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