title: WT1 gene expression lowered by IL-12 In vitro in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes.
abstract: Previous studies demonstrated that interleukin-12 (IL-12) enhances the non-MHC-restricted cytotoxic activity of NK cells and facilitate specific allogeneic human cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses against fresh leukemia cells and cell lines. The Wilms' tumor gene, WT1 mRNA, has been used as a marker of minimal residual disease (MRD) for evaluating therapeutic efficacy of patients with leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). This study was aimed to investigate whether in vitro IL-12 can lower WT1 gene expression in peripheral blood monuclear cells (PBMNC) from patients with leukemia or MDS. PBMNC from these 30 patients and 5 healthy volunteers were cultured at 5 x 10(5) cells/ml alone with or without 100 units/ml of IL-12 for 3 days. WT1 mRNA was measured by competitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) since WT1 mRNA is considered as a marker of minimal residual disease (MRD) in leukemia and MDS. The results demonstrated that WT1 mRNA in PBMNC of 5 healthy volunteers was less than 10(3) copies/microg of total RNA. Following the 3-day IL-12 treatment, mean WT1 mRNA of PBMNC was reduced from 10(4.8) to 10(4.2) copies/microg of total RNA in 6 CML patients, from 10(5.4) to 10(4.8) copies/microg in 12 MDS patients and from 10(5.0) to 10(4.2) copies/microg in 5 AML patients in CR, but not reduced in 5 of 7 AML in non-CR. It is concluded that IL-12 significantly decrease the quantity of leukemia cells in PBMNC of most patients with MDS, CML and AML in CR. IL-12 may be of considerable benefit in the elimination of MRD in patients with hematological malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050000, China. lingpan2000@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Xue-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhi-Yun
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Suo
authors.forename: Jing-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiao-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shu-Kai
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: Zuo-Ren
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Ruzo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ohno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D025721:WT1 Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D025721:WT1 Proteins; D018664:Interleukin-12