title: The clinical significance of γ-catenin in acute myeloid leukemia.
abstract: Dysregulation of γ-catenin may function as an oncogenic factor in various malignancies. We investigated γ-catenin expression in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and explored its role in the pathogenesis of AML. γ-Catenin was significantly overexpressed in AML patients compared to healthy donors. The γ-catenin expression in AML patients with lower white blood cells (<30×10(9)/L) was significantly higher than those with higher white blood cells (≥30×10(9)/L). The expression levels of γ-catenin in AML patients with mutated CEBPα were significantly higher than those with unmutated CEBPα. AML patients with lower γ-catenin levels were more likely to achieve complete remission compared with patients who have higher γ-catenin levels. In K562 cells, γ-catenin knockdown suppressed cellular proliferation, while the cellular migration was greatly enhanced. Moreover, knocking down of γ-catenin enhanced the cytotoxicity of decitabine in K562 cells. Our investigation has indicated a potential role of γ-catenin in the pathogenesis of AML.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing.
authors.forename: Jiadai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing.
authors.forename: Wenyi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: AML; acute myeloid leukemia; bone marrow; decitabine; prognosis; shRNA; γ-catenin