RESUMEN
AIM:To investigate the characteristic of T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia 1 (TAL1) gene expres-sion in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines and in primary AML cells from de novo AML patients with different sub-types. METHODS:Real-time PCR was used to determine the expression of TAL1 mRNA in acute leukemia cell lines (Jurkat, CCRF-CEM, HL-60 and NB4 cell lines) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 47 newly diagnosed AML patients. Twelve healthy individuals were served as healthy control group. RESULTS:A significantly increased level in TAL1 mRNA was found in AML cell lines (HL-60 and NB4), T-cell acute lymphacytic leukemia (T-ALL) cell lines (Jur-kat, CCRF-CEM) and primary AML cells compared with the healthy controls. Over-expression of TAL1 was found in all detected AML subtypes, the highest level of TAL-1 mRNA was found in AML-M1 and AML-M5 subtype ( P <0.05). CONCLUSION:High expression of TAL1 in AML might influence the differentiation and proliferation of myeloid cells, further investigation needs to confirm whether it would be as a biomarker for pathogenesis of AML.