T-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Protein 2 (TAL2)

TAL2 is 1 of at least 9 different protooncogenes that are activated as a consequence of translocation to 1 of the T-cell receptor loci in T-ALL. Molecular and functional analysis of the breakpoints suggested a unifying mechanistic model in which the translocation results from a mistake occurring during V(D)J recombination. In most cases, oncogene activation is a direct result of the juxtaposition of the protooncogene and T-cell receptor regulatory elements on one of the derivative chromosomes. The translocation is mediated by V(D)J recombination using a fortuitous recombination site located 3-prime of the TAL2 protooncogene, and the consequent juxtaposition of TAL2 and the TCR-beta enhancer on the der(9) chromosome results in TAL2 overexpression.