An Overview: From Discovery of Candidate Mutations to Disease Modeling and Transformation Mechanisms of Acute Leukemia -- Backtracking of Leukemic Clones to Birth -- Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) as a Tool for the Detection of Significant Chromosomal Abnormalities in Childhood Leukaemia -- Specialized Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) Techniques for Leukaemia Research -- LDI-PCR: Identification of Known and Unknown Gene Fusions of the Human MLL Gene -- Panhandle PCR Approaches to Cloning MLL Genomic Breakpoint Junctions and Fusion Transcript Sequences -- MRD Detection in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patients Using Ig/TCR Gene Rearrangements as Targets for Real-Time Quantitative PCR -- Array-Based Comparative Genomic Hybridization as a Tool for Analyzing the Leukemia Genome -- Application of SNP Genotype Arrays to Determine Somatic Changes in Cancer -- Retroviral/Lentiviral Transduction and Transformation Assay -- Gene Expression Profiling of Leukemia Stem Cells -- Humanized Model to Study Leukemic Stem Cells -- Model Systems for Examining Effects of Leukemia Associated Oncogenes in Primary Human CD34+ Cells via Retroviral Transduction -- Ex Vivo Assays to Study Self-Renewal and Long-Term Expansion of Genetically Modified Primary Human Acute Myeloid Leukemia Stem Cells -- Identification and Characterization of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell Populations in Mouse Bone Marrow by Flow Cytometry -- In Vitro Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells as a Model of Early Hematopoietic Development -- Analysis of the Mouse Placenta as a Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche -- Identification of Protein Interaction Partners by the Yeast Two-Hybrid System -- Complete Array of HOX Gene Expression by RQ-PCR -- Genome-Wide Determination of DNA Methylation by Hpa II Tiny Fragment Enrichment by Ligation-Mediated PCR (HELP) for the Study of Acute Leukemias -- Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) for Analysis of Histone Modifications and Chromatin-Associated Proteins.

Recent advances in molecular and cellular biology techniques have significantly improved our ability to detect, monitor, model and study the underlying molecular basis and pathogenesis of leukemia, yet we are still in an early discovery stage and much more work is needed in order to develop better strategies to diagnose, classify and treat this biologically and clinically diverse disease. In Leukemia: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers bring together a wide range of state-of-the-art laboratory methods and detailed protocols that are useful for both clinical and basic research scientists working on the disease. The volume provides techniques for prenatal backtracking of leukemic clone, molecular diagnosis, detection of genome-wide genetic abnormalities and profiling, identification of unknown fusion genes, monitoring of minimal residual diseases, disease modeling using murine and human primary hematopoietic cells, studying of normal and malignant hematopoiesis, identification of interacting partners with leukemia associated oncoproteins, and global characterization of genome-wide epigenetic changes in leukemic cells. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology™ series format, the convenient chapters contain brief introductions, lists of the necessary materials, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Leukemia: Methods and Protocols will help researchers to advance knowledge and have a better understanding of the disease, which will ultimately facilitate development of anti-cancer therapy and improve quality of life for patients.