The gene expression profile of nodal peripheral T-cell lymphoma demonstrates a molecular link between angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and follicular …

L de Leval, DS Rickman, C Thielen… - Blood, The Journal …, 2007 - ashpublications.org
L de Leval, DS Rickman, C Thielen, A Reynies, YL Huang, G Delsol, L Lamant, K Leroy…
Blood, The Journal of the American Society of Hematology, 2007ashpublications.org
The molecular alterations underlying the pathogenesis of angioimmunoblastic T-cell
lymphoma (AITL) and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified (PTCL-u) are largely
unknown. In order to characterize the ontogeny and molecular differences between both
entities, a series of AITLs (n= 18) and PTCLs-u (n= 16) was analyzed using gene expression
profiling. Unsupervised clustering correlated with the pathological classification and with
CD30 expression in PTCL-u. The molecular profile of AITLs was characterized by a strong …
Abstract
The molecular alterations underlying the pathogenesis of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified (PTCL-u) are largely unknown. In order to characterize the ontogeny and molecular differences between both entities, a series of AITLs (n = 18) and PTCLs-u (n = 16) was analyzed using gene expression profiling. Unsupervised clustering correlated with the pathological classification and with CD30 expression in PTCL-u. The molecular profile of AITLs was characterized by a strong microenvironment imprint (overexpression of B-cell– and follicular dendritic cell–related genes, chemokines, and genes related to extracellular matrix and vascular biology), and overexpression of several genes characteristic of normal follicular helper T (TFH) cells (CXCL13, BCL6, PDCD1, CD40L, NFATC1). By gene set enrichment analysis, the AITL molecular signature was significantly enriched in published TFH-specific genes. The enrichment was higher for sorted AITL cells than for tissue samples. Overexpression of several TFH genes was validated by immunohistochemistry in AITLs. A few cases with molecular TFH-like features were identified among CD30 PTCLs-u. Our findings strongly support that TFH cells represent the normal counterpart of AITL, and suggest that the AITL spectrum may be wider than suspected, as a subset of CD30 PTCLs-u may derive from or be related to AITL.
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