OBJECTIVETo study the role of non-classical NF-κB signaling pathway in B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL).

METHODSThe bone marrow samples from 48 patients with B-ALL were collected from March 2015 to March 2016. The real-time quantitative RT-PCR was used for determing mRNA expression levels of NF-κB family members; the NF-κB DNA binding activity in B-ALL cell nucleus was analyzed by ELISA; the apoptosis rate of B-ALL cells alone or co-cultured with bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSC) was determined by flow cytometry.

RESULTSRelative expression level of mRNA for NF-κB family members, including the Rel A, Rel B, P50 and P52 in ALL-B group was statistically significantly higher than that in normal control group (P<0.05). The clinical characteristics of B-ALL patients with different NF-κB activity were not significantly different (P> 0.05); after B-ALL cells cultured alone or co-cultured, the apoptosis rate of Rel A/ Rel Bgroup was statistically significantly higher than that in Rel A/ Rel Bgroup (P<0.05); the apoptosis rate of B-ALL cells cultured alone or co-cultured with hBMSC was significantly different.

CONCLUSIONNon-classical NF-κB signal marked by Rel B can be used as a new target for B-ALL treatment.