E-26 Transformation-specific Related Gene Expression and Outcomes in Cytogenetically Normal Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Meta-analysis

Immunological Role of TP53 Somatic Mutation Classification in Human Cancers

Background

TP53 is a very common tumor suppressor gene and has implicated in various cancers. A systematic immunological analysis of TP53 somatic mutation classification in multiple cancers is still lacking.

Methods

To assess the immunological value of TP53 somatic mutation classification in various cancers, we integrated a series of bioinformatics methods to analyze the role of TP53 gene across the public databases, such as UCSC Xena, Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), Ensembl, and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx).

Results

The results revealed that the TP53 expression level had significant difference in tumor tissues and normal tissues, and it had a high expression level in most malignant tumors. Moreover, the missense mutation is the most common type of TP53 mutation in most cancers. In addition, the Cox proportional hazards model analysis and Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival analysis demonstrated that the TP53 expression is a high-risk factor in brain lower-grade glioma (LGG), prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD), and uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS), which is opposite in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC). Besides, compared to the TP53 nontruncating mutation classification samples, we found that TP53 truncating mutation samples had lower TP53 expression levels in certain types of cancer. Notably, TP53 was associated with the mismatch repair (MMR) gene in some cancers which contained truncating or nontruncating mutation. Based on the classification of truncating or nontruncating mutation, we also discovered that TP53 expression was positively or negatively correlated with the immune score, stromal score, and the levels of immune cell infiltration in different cancers.

Conclusions

Our research reveals an overarching landscape of immunological value on TP53 status in various malignant tumors. According to our results, we demonstrate that TP53 also plays an immunological role in various cancers.

Cytarabine and EIP co-administration synergistically reduces viability of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells with high ERG expression

The E26 transformation sequence-related gene ERG encodes a transcription factor involved in normal hematopoiesis, and its expression is abnormal in leukemia. Especially in a type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that is refractory and easy to relapse, the expression of ERG protein is abnormally increased. Chemotherapy can alleviate the condition of ALL, but the location and survival mechanism of the remaining ALL cells after chemotherapy are still not fully understood. It is becoming increasingly clear that the interaction between leukemia cells and their microenvironment plays an important role in the acquisition of drug resistance mutations and disease recurrence. We selected an acute lymphocytic leukemia cell line with high ERG expression, and studied the synergistic effect of chemotherapeutics and small molecule peptides through cell proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle experiments; At the same time, we inoculated acute lymphocytic leukemia cells with high ERG expression into mice with severe immunodeficiency to simulate human ALL and investigated (i) the effects of co-administration on the nesting and invasion of leukemia cells and (ii) the effects of the small molecule peptide drug EIP, which targets ERG, on the sensitivity of ALL chemotherapy and the underlying mechanisms.Ara-c and EIP synergistically reduces viability of ALL cells with high ERG expression may be achieved by promoting their apoptosis and inhibiting their nesting.

WT-1, BAALC, and ERG Expressions in Iranian Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia Pre- and Post-chemotherapy

Purpose: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most prevalent acute leukemia in adults. It possesses different cytogenetic and molecular features. The expression of Wilms tumor-1 (WT1), brain and acute leukemia, cytoplasmic (BAALC) and ETS-related gene (ERG) might be considered as prognostic factors in AML patients. The aim of this study was to determine the mRNA expressions of WT-1, BAALC and ERG genes in bone marrow of mononuclear cells and their effects on complete remission in the Iranian AML patients, pre- and post- chemotherapy.

Methods: Forty AML patients with normal karyotype were evaluated. The mRNA gene expressions were measured with quantitative real-time PCR in bone marrow of mononuclear cells of AML patients at the baseline and after chemotherapy. The subtypes of AML and flow cytometry panel were also assessed. Complete remission (CR) after the treatment was addressed for all patients.

Results: The mRNA expressions of WT-1, BAALC and ERG were significantly decreased after the treatment (p = 0.001, 0.017, 0.036). WT-1 mRNA expression was inversely correlated with CR after chemotherapy (P =0.024). There was also significant correlation between baseline expression of BAALC and CR (P =0.046). No significant correlation was observed between ERG and CR pre- and post- chemotherapy (P =0.464 and 0.781). There was also significant correlation between BAALC mRNA expression and CD34+ (P <0.001).

Conclusion: The present study showed that WT-1 decreased significantly after standard chemotherapy which could have favorable effects on CR. Also, the high expression of BAALC could have a poor prognostic role in AML patients. The identification of these gene expressions can be an efficient approach in targeted therapy among AML patients.

Prognostic role of ACTL10 in Cytogenetic Normal Acute Myeloid Leukemia

ACTL10 is a member of the actin family; however, despite previous studies suggesting that certain proteins in this family may be related to the pathogenesis of leukemia, to the best of our knowledge, no studies to date have demonstrated any association between ACTAL10 and leukemia. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the association between ACTL10 expression levels, DNA methylation levels and the clinical prognosis in cytogenic normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML). Data from seventy-five patients with CN-AML and patients with AML treated with chemotherapy or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset and were used to analyze the clinical prognosis of ACTL10 RNA expression levels and DNA methylation levels. In addition, the study also investigated the combined clinical prognosis of ACTL10 RNA expression levels and ACTL10 DNA methylation levels in 74 patients with CN-AML from the TCGA dataset. ACTL10 RNA expression levels were observed to be highly expressed in patients with CD34⁺/CD38⁺ AML (P<0.01). Both ACTL10 RNA expression levels and DNA methylation were found to be independent prognostic factors for patients with CN-AML; patients with CN-AML in the ACTL10 RNA-high expression group had an increased EFS (P=0.0016) and OS (P=0.014) and patients in ACTL10 DNA methylation-low group also demonstrated a long EFS (P<0.0001) and OS (P=0.004). Notably, integrating ACTL10 RNA expression levels and ACTL10 DNA methylation levels could more accurately predict the prognosis of patients with CN-AML (EFS and OS, P<0.0001). In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggested that the high RNA expression levels and low DNA methylation levels of ACTL10 may predict a good prognosis in patients with CN-AML.