Analysis of the expression pattern of the BCL11B gene and its relatives in patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

BACKGROUND: In a human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cell line (Molt-4), siRNA-mediated suppression of BCL11B expression was shown to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis, functions which may be related to genes involved in apoptosis (such as TNFSF10 and BCL2L1) and TGF-β pathways (such as SPP1and CREBBP). METHODS: The expression levels of the above mentioned genes and their correlation with the BCL11B gene were analyzed in patients with T-ALL using the TaqMan and SYBR Green I real-time polymerase chain reaction technique. RESULTS: Expression levels of BCL11B, BCL2L1, and CREBBP mRNA in T-ALL patients were significantly higher than those from healthy controls (P <0.05). In T-ALL patients, the BCL11B expression level was negatively correlated with the BCL2L1 expression level (r(s )= -0.700; P <0.05), and positively correlated with the SPP1 expression level (r(s )= 0.683; P <0.05). In healthy controls, the BCL11B expression level did not correlate with the TNFSF10, BCL2L1, SPP1, or CREBBP expression levels. CONCLUSIONS: Over-expression of BCL11B might play a role in anti-apoptosis in T-ALL cells through up-regulation of its downstream genes BCL2L1 and CREBBP.