[Expression of human telomere repeat binding factor 1 (TRF1) in acute leukemia cells and its correlation with telomerase activities].

OBJECTIVE

To study the expression of human telomere repeat binding factor 1 (TRF1) to investigate the correlation of telomerase activity with acute leukemia.

METHODS

Leukemic cells were collected from 30 cases of acute leukemia. Realtime quantitative PCR with fluorescence probe hybridization was used to measure expression of TRF1 and hTERT mRNA in leukemic cells.

RESULTS

TRF1 mRNA expression was 0.0126 (0.0127-0.0546) in acute non-lymphocytic leukemia (ANLL), which was lower than that in normal mononuclear cells [0.0457 (0.00839-0.262), P<0.001], but its expression in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells [0.0745 (1.92 x 10(-6)-0.193)] had no significant difference compared with that in normal mononuclear cells. TRF1 expression in ANLL cells was significantly lower than that in ALL cells (P=0.001). The expressions of TRF1 mRNA in AL cells and normal mononuclear cells had no significant correlation with expression of hTERT mRNA (r=-0.173, P=0.207).

CONCLUSION

The expression of TRF1 is lower in ANLL cells, which indicates TRF1 may have some effect on telomerase activity by regulating telomere length in ANLL cells.