T-Cell Leukemia Translocation Altered Gene (TCTA)

Aplan et al. (1995) cloned a gene at the site of a t(1;3)(p34;p21) translocation breakpoint in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A cDNA for the gene, designated TCTA (T-cell leukemia translocation-associated gene), was identified from a human bone marrow library. The cDNA has a short open reading frame of 103 amino acids. Northern blots showed the gene was expressed ubiquitously with highest levels in the kidney.

TCTA, located at 3p21, is deleted in a subset of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines. By comparative Southern blotting the authors detected related sequences in the DNA of other mammals, chicken and Drosophila.