Transcriptional silencing of Polo-like kinase 2 (SNK/PLK2) is a frequent event in B-cell malignancies

The Polo-like kinases (Plks) are a highly conserved family of protein kinases that function in regulation of cell cycle and DNA damage-induced checkpoints. Evidence of a tumor suppressor function for the Plks in human neoplasia is lacking. Here, we report that Snk/Plk2 is transcriptionally down-regulated in B-cell neoplasms. Silencing occurs with very high frequency in Burkitt lymphoma (BL) but is also detected in B-cell neoplasms of other types and is associated with aberrant cytosine methylation in the CpG island located at the 5′ end of the SNK/PLK2 gene. Silencing is specific to malignant B cells because SNK/PLK2 was unmethylated (and expressed) in primary B lymphocytes, in EBV-immortalized B lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs), and in adenocarcinomas (of the breast) and squamous-cell carcinomas (of the head and neck). Expression of Snk/Plk2 in BL cell lines was restored by demethylating agents. The related PLK1 and PLK3 (FNK/PRK) genes were overexpressed in BL cell lines lacking Snk/Plk2 expression, consistent with functional degeneracy among the Plk family. Ectopic expression of Snk/Plk2 in BL cells resulted in apoptosis, a potential mechanistic basis underlying the strong selective pressure for abrogation of Snk/Plk2 function in B-cell neoplasia.