TET2 Expression in Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells of Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Its Clinical Significances

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of TET2 mRNA and protein in the bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNC) of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and its clinical significance. METHODS: The expression of TET2 mRNA and protein in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNC) of 32 patients with MDS and 20 healthy donors was examined by qPCR and Western blot. RESULTS: The expression of TET2 mRNA in BMMNC was down-regulated in MDS patients compared with the donor group [(0.41±0.28)% vs. (1.07±0.56)%] (P<0.001). Compared with lower expression group (TET2<0.4) [(6.53±6.17)%], patients with higher expression of TET2 (≥0.4) presented significantly lower proportion of bone marrow blasts [(1.21±1.56)%] (P<0.05). The expression of TET2 mRNA in BMMNC of MDS patients was inversely correlated with malignant clone burden (r=-0.398, P<0.05) and IPSS (r=-0.412, P<0.05). The expression of TET2 protein was down-regulated in MDS patients compared with that in the donor group. CONCLUSIONS: The mRNA and protein expression of TET2 in BMMNC of MDS patients is decreased, which might be useful as an important parameter for the evaluation of MDS clone burden.