A trend was found between the overexpression of the N-ras gene and the acute leukemias: all 10 acute leukemias exhibited overexpression of the N-ras gene, while only two of the CML cases, both in blastic crisis, showed elevated levels of the N-ras gene.
Our observations indicate that in vivo selection assays detect transforming genes including ras oncogenes at high frequency, and that activated N-ras genes are frequently detected in human acute leukemias.
The authors analyzed MIN in de novo acute leukemia and its association with expression of the human MSH3 (hMSH3) gene and point mutations of the N-ras gene.