Klin Onkol 2006; 19(Suppl2): 407-410.
Summary
Backgrounds: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most frequent malignancy diagnosed in children in the Czech Republic. During last few decades, considerable progress in the treatment had been made and it was similarly contributed by many findings on the molecular basis of the disease. Expression profiling analysis using Macro or Micro Arrays has become an important technique to identify potential markers of the disorder, which might characterise malignant cells and help in the understanding of development of leukaemia and treatment stratification.
Methods and Results: In the present study, the effect of methotrexate on the expression of p53-signalling pathway genes was investigated in malignant blasts isolated from the bone marrow of patients with acute leukemia. Expression variations were detected using „GEArray Q series Human p53 Signalling Pathway Gene Array“. Having drawn a comparison between expression profiles, variable gene expression levels in the control cells; likewise various transcription activity alterations were observed. Significant changes in the transcription were found among genes involved in the of apoptosis or cell cycle regulation. Regarding some genes, changes in expression were observed in more that one patient. However, the expression levels of most other genes varied individually, independently on the subtype of the disease.
Conclusions: Changes in the expression of p53-signalling pathway genes were detected in the malignant blasts cultivated ex vivo with methotrexate. Different levels of the transcription in our series confirm heterogeneity of childhood leukemias, where patients with the same diagnosis do not need to share identical gene expression profiles even the manner of cellular response on the presence of methotrexate, resulting in the various level of perceptiveness to the medication and in the final response to the therapy.
