Immunophenotypic and cytogenetic analysis of Molt-3 and Molt-4: human T-
lymphoid cell lines with rearrangement of chromosome 7
JM Greenberg, R Gonzalez-Sarmiento, DC Arthur, CW Wilkowski, BJ Streifel and JH Kersey
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Molt-3 and Molt-4 are T-cell lines originally derived in 1971 from a
patient with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. An unusual T-cell antigen
receptor gamma-chain gene (T-gamma) rearrangement detected by Southern blot
analysis of Molt-4 prompted an in-depth study of the immunophenotype and
karyotype of both cell lines. Molt-3 and Molt-4 had immunophenotypic
characteristics of thymocytes with expression of CD1 and CD5. Both cell
lines had a hypertetraploid karyotype with two rearranged no. 7
chromosomes: 2der(7)t(7;7)(p15;q11). The presence of a break in chromosome
band 7p15 suggested the involvement of T gamma. We cloned the rearranged
BamHI fragments spanning the known T-gamma constant and joining regions.
Comparison with germline clones of T gamma did not suggest any of the
clones included a breakpoint region. Thus the 7p15 chromosomal abnormality
in Molt-3 and Molt-4 is not associated with the currently described joining
and constant regions of T gamma.
Volume 72,
Issue 5,
pp. 1755-1760,
11/01/1988
Copyright © 1988 by The American Society of Hematology
