Expression of VEGF and its effect on cell proliferation in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the serum of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and the effect of VEGF on cell proliferation.


METHODS
Serum VEGF levels in 12 CML patients (7 chronic phase, 5 blast crisis phase) were measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). VEGF expression was interfered by transfection of K562 cells. VEGF mRNA levels in transfected K562 cells were determined using RT-PCR and the effect of VEGF on the proliferation of transfected K562 cells was investigated.


RESULTS
VEGF expression levels were significantly higher in CML patients than normal controls and significantly increased during blast crisis phase than during chronic phase. Compared to controls, the proliferation of the K562 cells was suppressed when VEGF expression was inhibited. However, the inhibited proliferation of K562 cells after gene silencing of VEGF was partially abolished after introducing exogenous VEGF into the cells.


CONCLUSIONS
VEGF plays an important role in the initiation and development of CML and monitoring serum VEGF assists guiding the treatment and predicting the prognosis of CML.
Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, China. rizhangdoc@163.com.
H
H
Chen
Y-F
YF
Shen
F
F
Gong
G-H
GH
Yang
Y-Q
YQ
Jiang
R
R
Zhang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020014:K562 Cells; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D014162:Transfection; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A