the signs and symptoms of their disease appear and/or become progressively more severe. The role of GATA2 deficiency in leading to any of the leukemia types is not understood. Likewise, the role of GATA2 overexpression in non-familial AML as well as development of the blast crisis in chronic myelogenous leukemia and progression of prostate cancer is not understood. Mutations Scores of different types of inactivating GATA mutations have been associated with GATA2 deficiency; these include frameshift, point, insertion, splice site and deletion mutations scattered throughout the gene but concentrated in the region encoding the GATA2 transcription factor's C-ZnF, N-ZnF, and 9.5 kb sites. Rare cases of GATA2 deficiency involve large mutational deletions that include the 3q21.3 locus plus contiguous adjacent genes; these mutations seem more likely than other types of GATA mutations to cause increased susceptibilities to viral infections, developmental lymphatic disorders, and neurological disturbances. One GATA2 mutation is a gain of function type, i.e. it is associated with an increase in the activity rather than levels of GATA2. This mutation substitutes valine for leucine in the 359 amino acid position (i.e. within the N-ZnF site) of the transcription factor and has been detected in individuals undergoing the blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Pathological inhibition Analyses of individuals with AML have discovered many cases of GATA2 deficiency in which one parental GATA2 gene was not mutated but silenced by hypermethylation of its gene promoter. Further studies are required to integrate this hypermethylation-induced form of GATA2 deficiency into the diagnostic category of GATA2 deficiency. Pathological stimulation Non-mutational stimulation of GATA2 expression and consequential aggressiveness in EVI1-positive AML appears due to the ability of EVI1, a transcription factor, to directly stimulate the expression of the GATA2 gene. The reason for the overexpression of GATA2 that begins in the early stages of prostate cancer is unclear but may involve the ability of FOXA1 to act indirect to stimulate the expression of the GATA2 gene. GATA2 The full length GATA2 transcription factor is a moderately sized protein consisting of 480 amino acids. Of its two zinc fingers, C-ZnF (located toward the protein's C-terminus) is responsible for binding to specific DNA sites while its N-ZnF (located toward the proteins N-terminus) is responsible for interacting with various other nuclear proteins that regulate its activity. The transcription factor also contains two transactivation domains and one negative regulatory domain which interact with other nuclear proteins to up-regulate