OBJECTIVETo evaluate the correlation between MicroRNA-191 (miR-191) and T lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (T-ALL/LBL) to probe its underlying molecular mechanism.

METHODSThe expression of miR-191 was examined by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) in 20 T-ALL/LBL tissue samples and 20 lymphoid reactive hyperplasia (LRH) tissue samples. The correlation between miR-191 and the clinicopathological feature of T-ALL/LBL was analyzed. Antisense miR-191 lentiviral vectors was constructed and transfected into T-ALL/LBL Jukat cells. After transfection, the expression of miR-191 was examined by RT-PCR. The cell activity was evaluated by CCK-8 asssy. The cell cycle and apoptosis were determined by flow cytometry.

RESULTSCompared with LRH samples, the results of RT-PCR showed significant upregulation of miR-191 in 20 T-ALL/LBL tissue samples (1.875±0.079 vs 1.000, P<0.05). The expression level of miR-191 was negatively associated with prognosis. Compared with LV-NC-GFP and control groups, the expression of miR-191 significantly decreased after transfection of antisense miR-191 lentiviral vectors (0.578±0.012 vs 1.011±0.053 and 1.000, P<0.05), the percentages of apoptotic cells and the cell in G0/G1 phase significantly increased (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSmiR-191 might play a significant role in the development of T-ALL/LBL, implicating a new target for therapy.