Western blotting

Western blot analyses were performed according to widely established protocols. The following antibodies were used: anti-ABL (a-ABL) Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA, USA), anti-phosphorylated ABL specific for the phosphorylated tyrosine-residues 245 (a-p-ABL-Y245) (Upstate-Biotechnology, Lake Placid, NY, USA), anti-BCR (a-BCR) (Santa Cruz Biotechnology), anti-phosphorylated BCR-Y177 (a-p-BCR-Y177) (Cell Signaling, Boston, USA), anti-STAT5, anti phosphorylated STAT5 (Cell Signaling, Boston, MA, USA), anti-Erk1/2 and anti phosphorylated Erk1/2 (Cell Signaling, Boston, MA, USA). Blocking and antibody incubation were performed in 5% low-fat dry milk.