Revealing the mystery behind childhood leukemia
Rodney DeKoter, BSc’90, PhD’96, associate professor, Microbiology and Immunology, has identified a gene that has the potential to wipe out cancer cells in a common form of childhood leukemia—acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the leading cause of cancer deaths in children.
The study, published in the Journal of Immunology, demonstrates that reduced expression of the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) gene plays a key role in ALL. DeKoter and Darah Christie, PhD, postdoctoral fellow and lead author, showed that a reduction in BTK is associated with the onset of ALL.
Conversely, when DeKoter and his team forced the expression of the gene in culture, it caused the leukemia cells to stop growing and die.
“Our studies showed that a gene-therapy type approach in the cultured cells killed the cancer cells, suggesting that this gene may be important for preventing this form of childhood leukemia,” said DeKoter.
