[Detection of WT1 expression in bone marrow of acute leukemia patients with real-time quantitative RT-PCR].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate Wilms' tumor gene (WT1) expression levels in bone marrow (BM) of acute leukemia patients (ALs).


METHODS
A real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RQ-RT-PCR) method was established for detecting WT1 and internal reference GAPDH expression levels in BM of 108 ALs and 23 non-leukemia controls by Light Cycler.


RESULTS
The median expression levels of WT1 in 70 newly diagnosed ALs and 11 relapsed ALs were statistically higher than those in 23 ALs in complete remission (CR) and 23 non-leukemic controls (75.10 and 89.56 vs 2.07 and 1.51 respectively). No statistic differences was found between the CR group and control group, nor between the newly diagnosed group and relapsed group. Of the 70 newly diagnosed ALs, median WT1 expression level of acute granulocytic leukemias was significantly higher than that of acute monocytic leukemias (M(5)), but there was no statistic differences among the M(1), M(2), M(3) and ALL subtypes. Furthermore the WT1 levels were not correlated to peripheral WBC counts, BM blast percentage and multidrug resistant gene (mdr1) expression at presentation, but correlated to chromosome karyotypes. Dynamic analysis of WT1 levels of 2 patients on treatment showed that WT1 expression levels predicted relapse.


CONCLUSIONS
WT1 expression levels in ALs were strikingly higher than that in non-leukemias. WT1 can be a marker for detecting MRD and evaluating therapy efficacy in leukemias.
Gu
Wei-ying
WY
The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, Suzhou 215006, China.
Chen
Zi-xing
ZX
Cao
Xiang-shan
XS
Hu
Shao-yan
SY
Zhu
Jiang
J
Wang
Zhi-lin
ZL
Yan
Feng
F
Wang
Wei
W
Cen
Jian-nong
JN
Shen
Hui-ling
HL
Qian
Jun
J
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015973:Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic; D006801:Humans; D020014:K562 Cells; D007938:Leukemia / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D007948:Leukemia, Monocytic, Acute / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D025721:WT1 Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
D025721:WT1 Proteins