Bcl2 as a therapeutic target in BCR-ABL positive ALL

Despite advances in allogeneic stem cell transplantation, BCR-ABL positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) remains a high risk disease, necessitating the development of improved treatment strategies. MicroRNAs are a class of non-coding RNA involved in post-transcriptional regulation, and are often differentially expressed in tumour samples, so identifying their functions can elucidate novel therapeutic targets. We observed that the miR˜17 – 92 cluster was less abundant in primary BCR-ABL positive compared to negative ALL cells. Overexpression of the cluster in TonB cells triggered apoptosis in a BCR-ABL depe…