title: [The expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA and its significance in acute leukemia].
abstract: To investigate the expression of hTERT mRNA in bone marrow mononuclear cells (MNCs) from acute leukemia patients, the method of semi-quntitative RT-PCR was used to examine the expression of hTERT mRNA in marrow MNCs, and the telomerase activity of marrow MNCs was determined with the method of TRAP-PCR-ELISA by using a commercial kit. The results indicated that the expression of hTERT mRNA of marrow MNCs in 30 untreated AL patients was markedly higher than that in 12 CR cases (0.71 +/- 0.34 vs 0.43 +/- 0.25, P < 0.05) and 6 normal volunteers (0.71 +/- 0.34 vs 0.22 +/- 0.21, P < 0.01), respectively. Telomerase activity of marrow MNCs in 30 untreated AL patients was significantly higher than that in 12 CR cases (0.235 +/- 0.395 vs 0.012 +/- 0.015, P = 0.007). Moreover, there was a positive correlation between the hTERT mRNA synthesis and telomerase activity in AL cells (r = 0.421, P < 0.01). The pencentage of blast cells in marrow smear of the untreated AL patients was positively correlated with both the expression of hTERT mRNA and the telomerase activity of bone marrow MNCs (r = 0.457, P < 0.05 and r = 0.411, P < 0.05), respectively. It is concluded that the expression of hTERT mRNA in bone marrow MNCs from untreated AL patients was correlated with their telomerase activity. It is suggested that the expression of hTERT mRNA leukemic cells indicates their higher proliferation ability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China. mlwh@371.net
authors.forename: Xiao-Li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Mao-Fang
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000201:enzymology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000201:enzymology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019098:Telomerase / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019098:Telomerase