Expression of beclin-1 and apoptosis-related genes in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

Introduction: Autophagy was found to play a major role in the pathogenesis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In this study we investigated the expression of beclin-1, Bad, Bax, Bcl-2, and Bcl-xL in patients with ALL. Material and methods: This was a comparative study conducted on 100 ALL patients (age 8-15) divided into 2 groups. The first group, the ALL group, comprised ALL cases at their initial diagnosis (46 patients), while the second group, the Remission group, comprised in-remission cases (50 patients). mRNA expression levels in patients' blood samples were determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Beclin-1 levels were significantly lower in the ALL group than in the Remission group (0.22 ±0.03 vs. 196.8 ±32.47; p = 0.001). Bad levels were significantly lower in the ALL group (1.0 ±0.18 vs. 163.6 ±36.2; p = 0.001), while Bax levels were significantly higher in the ALL group than in the Remission group (131.52 ±31.4 vs. 4.29 ±0.64; p = 0.001). Bcl-2 levels were significantly higher in the ALL group (2678.91 ±575.5 vs. 7.56 ±2.9; p = 0.001), and Bcl-xL levels were also significantly higher in the ALL group (142.99 ±24.43 vs. 0.99 ±0.2; p = 0.001). There was negative correlation between immunophenotyping with beclin-1 (r =-0.725; p < 0.001), while there was a positive correlation with Bcl-2 (r = 0.533; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings reveal potential prognostic value for these markers in pediatric ALL, with regard to the delicate mutual balance among them.

Clinical outcomes of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia receiving the hyper-CVAD regimen and assessment of the risk of hepatitis flares due to hepatitis B virus reactivation after chemotherapy

“…Abdelsalam et al studied the expression levels of a series of autophagic beclin-1, pro-apoptotic (Bad and Bax), and anti-apoptotic (Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL) parameters, illustrating the correlation between their levels in ALL. There was a positive correlation with Bcl-2, while there was a negative correlation with beclin-1 [18].…”

“…In addition to markers of risk such as WBC and age, there is increasing evidence that biomarkers of cellular apoptosis and autophagy, such as beclin-1 and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) levels, may have potential prognostic value in ALL [18]. Autophagy is a catabolic pathway involving degradation of lysosomes and then recycling of cell proteins and organelles [19].…”

Spontaneous apoptosis and BCL2 gene expression as predictors of early death and short overall survival in acute leukemia patients: a prospective, case cohort study

“…Expression of any of the three aforementioned genes had no significant role with respect to the prognosis of ALL; this finding is consistent with the results of Hogarth and Hall [36] who reported that none of these three proteins had any significant influence on the prognosis and eventfree survival associated with ALL in children. In contrast, Abdelsalam et al [52] reported that the overexpression of BCL2 and BCL-XL had a significant influence on the prognosis and event-free survival associated with ALL in children.…”

An investigation of the relation between catalase C262T gene polymorphism and catalase enzyme activity in leukemia patients

“…Under normal conditions, autophagy prevents ROS accumulation through elimination of damaged mitochondria. However, dysregulation of autophagy may lead to development of tumorigenesis through the accumulation of oncogenic mutations and malignant transformation [30]. Autophagy eliminates damaged or harmful cel-lular components, whereas catalase plays an important protective role by detoxifying ROS [31].…”