Figure 8. Depiction of this model of lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Normal B-cell development proceeds from haematopoietic stem cells (HSC) through multiple stages to ultimately become mature B cells. A small subset of pro-B cells express renin and are termed B^Renin-cells. In this model, activation of the renin promoter in B^Renin-cells results in cre recombinase expression and subsequently RBP-J deletion. These cells fail to differentiate along the normal B-cell pathway, undergo epigenetic activation and enrichment of a precursor B-cell gene programme. Mutant cells additionally experience cell cycle progression and cell proliferation ultimately resulting in expansion of a lymphoblast population and the development of precursor B cell leukaemia.