Low-penetrance genetic susceptibility and resistance loci implicated in the relative risk for radiation-induced acute myeloid leukemia in mice

Inbred CBA/H mice are susceptible to radiation-induced acute myeloid leukemia (r-AML), and C57BL/6 mice are resistant. A genome-wide screen for linkage between genotype and phenotype (r-AML) of 67 affected (CBA/H × C57BL/6)F1 × CBA/H backcross mice has revealed at least 2 suggestive loci that contribute to the overall lifetime risk for r-AML. Neither is necessary or sufficient for r-AML, but relative risk is the net effect of susceptibility (distal chromosome 1) and resistance (chromosome 6) loci. An excess of chromosome 6 aberrations in mouse r-AML and bone marrow cells up to 6 months after irradiation in vivo suggests the locus confers a proliferative advantage during the leukemogenic process. The stem cell frequency regulator 1 (Scfr1) locus maps to distal chromosome 1 and determines the frequency of hemopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in inbred mice, suggesting that target size may be one factor in determining the relative susceptibility of inbred mice to r-AML.