CD79a promotes CNS-infiltration and leukemia engraftment in pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Lennart Lenk, Michela Carlet, Fotini Vogiatzi, Lea Spory, Dorothee Winterberg, Antony Cousins, Michaela Vossen‐Gajcy, Olta Ibruli, Christian Vokuhl, Gunnar Cario, Omar El Ayoubi, Lisa Krämer, Matthias Ritgen, Monika Brüggemann, Robert Häsler, Martin Schrappe, Stephan Fuhrmann, Christina Halsey, Irmela Jeremias, Elias Hobeika, Hassan Jumaa, Ameera Alsadeq, Denis M. Schewe
Abstract
Central nervous system (CNS) involvement remains a challenge in the diagnosis and treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In this study, we identify CD79a (also known as Igα), a signaling component of the preB cell receptor (preBCR), to be associated with CNS-infiltration and -relapse in B-cell precursor (BCP)-ALL patients. Furthermore, we show that downregulation of CD79a hampers the engraftment of leukemia cells in different murine xenograft models, particularly in the CNS.