Outline of the major pathways concerning apoptosis and cell cycle and their roles in B-CLL and MCL according to the present study.

The width of the letters and arrows are representative for the expression levels of the affected gene product (inset). Dotted arrows and contoured letters indicate gene mutations and their effects. B-CLL: expression parameters are in strong favor of a protection of the malignant cells from apoptosis but did not provide evidence for promoting cell cycle. MCL: impairment of apoptosis induction seems to play a minor role, whereas most expression data indicate an enhancement of cell proliferation. For details see text.