miR-17∼92 is a polycistronic microRNA (miR) cluster (consisting of miR-17, miR-18a, miR-19a, miR-19b, miR-20a, and miR-92a) which frequently is overexpressed in several solid and lymphoid malignancies. Loss-and gain-of-function studies have revealed the role of miR-17∼92 in heart, lung, and B-cell development and in Mycinduced B-cell lymphomas, respectively. Recent studies indicate that overexpression of this locus leads to lymphoproliferation, but no experimental proof that dysregulation of this cluster causes B-cell lymphomas or leukemias is available. To determine whether miR-17∼92-overexpression induces lymphomagenesis/leukemogenesis, we generated a B-cell-specific transgenic mouse model with targeted overexpression of this cluster in B cells. The miR-17∼92 overexpression was driven by the Eμ-enhancer and Ig heavy-chain promoter, and a 3′ GFP tag was added to the transgene to track the miR expression. Expression analysis using Northern Blot and quantitative RT-PCR confirmed 2.5-to 25-fold overexpression of all six miRs in the transgenic mice spleens as compared with spleens from wild-type mice. Eμ-miR-17∼92 mice developed B-cell malignancy by the age of 12-18 mo with a penetrance of ∼80% (49% splenic B-cell lymphoproliferative disease, 28% lymphoma). At this stage mice exhibited severe splenomegaly with abnormal B-cell-derived white pulp expansion and enlarged lymph nodes. Interestingly, we found three classes of B-cell lymphomas/leukemias at varying grades of differentiation. These included expansion of CD19 + and CD5 + double-positive B cells similar to the aggressive form of human B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, B220 + CD43 + B1-cell proliferation, and a CD19 + aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma-like disease, as assessed by flow cytometry and histopathological analysis. miR-17∼92 cluster | animal model | SLC/ABC transporters M icroRNAs (miRs) are 21-to 22-nucleotide-long noncoding RNA molecules that regulate the expression of multiple cellular genes, and their dysregulation is involved in many human diseases including cancer. The MiR-17∼92 cluster frequently is up-regulated in several different malignancies including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (1) and lung cancer (2, 3). The MiR-17∼92 cluster is encoded by the chromosome 13q31 locus in humans and the 14qE4 locus in mice. This genomic region is amplified in DLBCLs and several other tumors (reviewed in ref. 4). The cluster consists of six miRs (miR-17, 18a, 19a, 20a, 19b-1, and 92a-1) and has two paralogs in the genome, miR-106a∼363 and miR-106b∼25, proposed to have arisen through series of duplication and deletion events during vertebrate evolution (5).The first suggestion for its possible role in oncogenesis came from the study in Eμ-Myc mice in which enforced expression of miR-17∼92 was shown to accelerate B-cell tumor development (6). An additional study that investigated the role of miR-17∼92 in mice by driving its overexpression under the human CD2 promoter in both B and T cells found that mice overexpressing the miR-17∼92 clust...