Analysis of the expression pattern of the BCL11B gene and its relatives in patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Background: In a human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cell line (Molt-4), siRNA-mediated suppression of BCL11B expression was shown to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis, functions which may be related to genes involved in apoptosis (such as TNFSF10 and BCL2L1) and TGF-beta pathways (such as SPP1 and CREBBP). Methods: The expression levels of the above mentioned genes and their correlation with the BCL11B gene were analyzed in patients with T-ALL using the TaqMan and SYBR Green I real-time polymerase chain reaction technique. Results: Expression levels of BCL11B, BCL2L1, and CREBBP mRNA in T-ALL patients were significantly higher than those from healthy controls (P < 0.05). In T-ALL patients, the BCL11B expression level was negatively correlated with the BCL2L1 expression level (r(s) = -0.700; P < 0.05), and positively correlated with the SPP1 expression level (r(s) = 0.683; P < 0.05). In healthy controls, the BCL11B expression level did not correlate with the TNFSF10, BCL2L1, SPP1, or CREBBP expression levels. Conclusions: Over-expression of BCL11B might play a role in anti-apoptosis in T-ALL cells through up-regulation of its downstream genes BCL2L1 and CREBBP.