Objective To study the SRSF2 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients by using high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA). Methods PCR-HRMA analysis was performed to screen SRSF2 mutations in 140 cases with AML, and the direct DNA sequencing was used to confirm the HRMA results. Results Five percent (7/140) of AML patients were found with heterozygous SRSF2 mutations, including one case of P95R mutation, two case of P95L mutation, and four cases of P95H mutation, the above mutations were confirmed by direct DNA sequencing. The maximal sensitivity of HRMA in detecting SRSF2 mutation was close to 10%. There were no difference in gender, age and blood parameters among cases with or without SRSF2 mutations (P > 0.05). The overall survival (OS) of patients with SRSF2 mutations was inferior to those without SRSF2 mutations in AML patients (P=0.016). Conclusions HRMA analysis was a convenient, rapid, specific, high-throughput technique for scanning of SRSF2 gene mutations in AML patients. SRSF2 mutation may predict the adverse prognosis in AML patients.

Objective To investigate the expression level and promoter methylation of SOX17 gene and the clinical correlations in Chinese patients with chronic myeloid leukemia ( CML ) . Methods The levels of SOX17 expression and methylation were detected by RQ-PCR and RQ-MSP. Results SOX17 expression level was significantly lower in CML compared with 30 controls (P=0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was 0.748 to differentiate CML from control (P=0.001). There was a trend of correlation between SOX17 expression and bcr/abl transcript (r = 0.439,P = 0.068) in CML patients. Hypermethylation of SOX17 promoter was detected in 3 (4%) CML patients, however, there was no difference as compared with 32 controls. In our study, SOX17 hypermethylation was not corrected with its expression. Conclusion Decreased SOX17 expression is a common molecular event in CML and may be considered as an available biomarker to diagnose CML. Dysregulated SOX17 is not caused by promoter hypermethylation in CML.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the expression level and clinical significance of the preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) transcripts in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

METHODSReal-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction with EvaGreen dye was established to detect the expression level of PRAME transcripts in the bone marrow mononuclear cells of 56 AML cases and 20 controls. The clinical association of PRAME transcripts was analyzed.

RESULTSThe PRAME transcripts were 0-1.46% (median 0.18%) and 0-21 618.09% (median 9.79%) in controls and AML cases, respectively (P< 0.01). Among the FAB subtypes, those with M1, M2, M3 and M4 had significantly higher level of PRAME transcripts than controls. However, those with M5 had similar level of PRAME transcripts as controls. There was a significantly negative correlation between the PRAME transcripts and cytogenetic risk groups (r= -0.438, P= 0.001). Cases in low risk had significantly higher level of PRAME transcripts than those in intermediate and high risk. Among cases with AML-M2, those with t(8;21) had significantly higher level of PRAME transcripts (135.06% -21 618.09%, median 2201.88%) than those without t(8;21)(0.14% -1696.30%, median 17.97%)(P= 0.002). In a patient with sequential samples, PRAME transcripts significantly decreased after induction therapy and significantly increased after relapse.

CONCLUSIONThe PRAME transcript was highly expressed in AML patients and was a favorable marker of prognosis. Quantification of PRAME transcript can be used in monitoring disease status of AML.

Antigens, Neoplasm ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Cytogenetic Analysis ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; therapy ; Male ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Recurrence