THE B-LYMPHOCYTE MATURATION PROMOTING TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR BLIMP1 PRDI-BF1 MAPS TO D6S447 ON HUMAN-CHROMOSOME 6Q21-Q22.1 AND THE SYNTENIC REGION OF MOUSE CHROMOSOME-10/

The human PRDI-BF1 or BLIMP1 gene and its mouse homolog Blimp1 are mem bers of the recently realized PR domain family that includes the retin oblastoma interacting zinc finger gene RIZ and the MDS1-EVI1 leukemia cancer gene. The specific high-level expression of Blimp1 in late B an d plasma cells, its induction during B-cell differentiation, and its a bility to drive B-cell maturation suggest that this gene may play a ro le in the differentiation and pathogenesis of B cells. We have now map ped the physical location of BLIMP1 near the marker D6S447 on human ch romosome 6q21-q22.1; we have also mapped Blimp1 to mouse Chromosome 10 at 14 cM distal to the Myb locus and to a region homologous to the lo cation of BLIMP1. Deletions of the 6q21-q22 region are common in sever al human malignancies, particularly in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B- NRL). The data led us to suggest that BLIMP1 may be a candidate B-NHL tumor suppressor gene. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.