Promyelocytic leukemia-retinoic acid receptor α fusion gene:research advances

Acute promyelocytic leukemia(APL) is a distinctive subtype of acute myeloid leukemia with a distinct biology and clinical presentation. Its molecular biology characteristic is a aberrant chromosomal translocation of the promyelocytic leukemia(PML) gene on chromosome 15 and the retinoic acid receptor α(RARα) gene on chromosome 17. This translocation generates PMLRARα fusion protein, which plays an important role in the genesis, development, diagnosis and therapy of APL. The PML protein has a close relationship with PML-RARα fusion gene. This article mainly summarizes the character, the function of PML protein and the degradation pathway of PML-RARα.