ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect the expression of MCL-1 in patient with acute myeloid leukemia(AML) with normal karyotype and to investigate the relationship of its expression level with clinical parameters and prognosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of MCL-1 in the bone marrow from 37 newly diagnosed AML patients was measured by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR(FQ RT-PCR) and Western blot, and the relationship between its expression level and clinical parameters such as the age, sex, WBC count, Hb level, Plt count, blast ratio in BM, and sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs in vitro prognosis was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression level of MCL-1 did not correlate with the age, sex, WBC count, Hb level, Plt count and the percentage of blast cells. There was no significant difference of MCL-1 expression in AML patients with or without extramedullary infiltration. The higher level of MCL-1 existed in AML patients who did not achieve complete remission with classical regimen. The resistant rate to chemotherapeutic drugs in vitro was higher in the patients with higher level of MCL-1.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Overexpression of MCL-1 is closely related with the resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, and may be used as an early indicator for judging multi-drug resistance and prognosis of AML.</p>
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects and mechanisms of the combination of homoharringtonine (HHT) with arsenic trioxide(AsO) on human myeloid cell line U937 in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>MTT method was used to determine the antiproliferating effect of different concentrations of HHT, AsOand their combination on U937 cells; the flow cytometry with Annexin-V-FITC/PI double staining was used to determine the apoptosis-induced effect of HHT and AsOalone or their combination; Western blot method was used to detect the protein expression of P-Akt,P-Akt,BCL-XL, BID,MCL-1,P-MCL-1 and so on.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>HHT and AsOcould significantly inhibit proliferation of U937 cells and induce their apoptosis. The combination of these 2 drugs could significantly enhance the early apoptosis of U937 cells. After combination of these 2 drugs was used, the protein expressions of P-Akt,P-Akt,MCL-1,P-MCL-1 and BCL-XL were obviously down-regulated, but the expression of BID protein did not change.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The combination treatment of HHT and AsOcan synergistically inhibit the growth of U937 cells through inhibition of PI3K/Akt signal way and MCL-1 protein.</p>