p53 mutations, methylation and genomic instability in the progression of chronic myeloid leukaemia

In chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), as with other tumour types, mutations of the p53 gene are associated with disease progression. Changes in regional methylation of DNA with CML tumour development have also been demonstrated. Methylation is one mechanism by which gene expression is controlled and the CpG sites, which are the targets of DNA methylation, are also the sites of a number of the mutations found in the p53 gene. Cells harbouring mutant p53 have been shown to accumulate further genomic and genetic aberrations and methylation which alters the conformation of DNA is also believed to play a role in genomic stability. There appears to be an interplay between p53 deregulation and changing methylation patterns with the progression of CML. The cause and effect of changes in both of these critical gene regulating, DNA repair and genomic stability factors and their deviation during the progression of CML will be discussed.