The Abl oncogene was initially identified as the viral transforming gene of Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV). The major translational product of c-Abl has been identified as a protein with tyrosine kinase activity and an SH2 domain. The Abl oncogene is implicated in several human leukemias including chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML), in which it undergoes a (9;22) chromosomal translocation and produces the Philadelphia (Ph1) chromosome. The molecular consequence of this translocation is the generation of a chimeric Bcr/c-Abl mRNA encoding activated Abl protein tyrosine kinase. The related protein tyrosine kinase Arg, also designated Abl2, contains an SH2 and an SH3 domain. Arg has been shown to interact with and to phosphorylate c-Crk.
