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Objective: To analyze the survival, prognostic factors, and prevention of relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with hematological malignancies, and explore the relationship between immune reconstruction, loss of human leukocyte antigen (HLA-loss) and relapse after transplantation., Methods: From July 2012 to June 2020, 47 patients with hematological malignancies who relapsed after allo-HSCT were retrospectively analyzed, including 20 cases undergoing matched-sibling donor transplantation (MSD), 26 cases undergoing haploidentical transplantation (HID), and 1 case undergoing matched-unrelated donor transplantation (MUD). Multivariate analysis was used to analyze the risk factors related to post-relapse overall survival (PROS)., Results: All the 47 patients were implanted successfully. The cumulative incidence of grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ, Ⅲ/Ⅳ acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and chronic GVHD (cGVHD) was 40.4%, 10.6%, and 31.9%, respectively. The incidence of grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ and Ⅲ/Ⅳ aGVHD in HID group was 42.3% and 11.5%, while in MD group was 38.1% and 9.5% (P=0.579, P=1.000), and the incidence of cGVHD in the two groups was 34.6% and 28.6% (P=0.659). The PROS of patients with NK cell absolute count > 190 cells/μl 30 days after transplantation was higher than that of patients with NK cell absolute count ≤190 cells/μl (P=0.021). The 1-year and 3-year PROS of all the patients was 68.1% and 28.4%, respectively, while in the HID group was 78.9% and 40.3%, in the MD group was 54.4% and 14% (P=0.048). Multivariate analysis showed that grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ aGVHD and time of relapse < 3 months were independent risk factors of PROS (P<0.05)., Conclusion: The therapeutic effect of haploidentical transplantation in patients with relapsed hematological malignancies after allo-HSCT is better than that of matched donor transplantation. The high absolute count of NK cells 30 days after transplantation can increase PROS. Grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ aGVHD and time of relapse < 3 months have prognostic significance for long-term survival of patients with relapsed hematological malignancies after transplantation.

Objective: To analyses and summarize a case of multiple myeloma with disseminated infiltration in central nervous system., Methods: The results of laboratorial examination and clinical data were analyzed and compared in the light of published literatures., Results: The headache and diplopia were caused by infiltration of multiple myeloma cells to the central nervous system. Unlike those reported in the literatures, this case was a rare case of disseminated infiltration inside the brain, and plasma cells were CD56+, this patient has not yet accepted any multiple myeloma-associated treatment as like that reported in the literatures. And different from cases reported, this patient showed a good response to the intrathecal chemotherapy., Conclusion: Whether this good response is due to a heterogeneity of MM or effect of treatment-associated drug is still to be decided.

This study was purposed to investigate the expression and clinical significance of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in patients with B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in bone marrow mononuclear cells of B-ALL patients and normal controls was detected by RT-PCR. The gelatinolytic activity was detected by zymography. The results showed that the expression of MMP-2 in de novo and relapsed B-ALL patients was markedly higher than that in normal controls (P < 0.05). The expression of MMP-9 in de novo and relapsed B-ALL patients was markedly lower than that in normal controls (P < 0.05). The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in patients with extramedullary infiltration was significantly higher than that in patients without extramedullary infiltration. The incidence of extramedullary infiltration in patients with MMP-2/MMP-9 (+) was markedly higher than that in patients with MMP-2/MMP-9 (-). The expression of MMP-9 was markedly higher in high-risk patients than that in standard-risk patients (P < 0.05), but the expression of MMP-2 had no significant difference between the high-risk and standard-risk patients (P > 0.05). It is concluded that MMP-2 and MMP-9 may be secreted by B lymphoblasts and may involve in the extramedullary infiltration. MMP-9 may correlate with poor prognosis.

Objective: To explore the effect of mutation in PxxP domain of SHIP on migration and invasion of leukemia cells and its mechanism., Methods: The lentiviral vector mediated wild type SHIP (wtSHIP) and mutant SHIP (muSHIP) plasmids were transfected into K562 cells through gene transfection techniques. Expression of SHIP at mRNA and protein level was detected by real-time PCR and Western blot, respectively. Transwell assay was used to analyze the difference between the migration and invasion ability of the K562/wtSHIP and the K562/muSHIP cells after transfection. Primary migration associated factor FAK, MMP and NF-κB were assayed by Western blot., Results: After transfection, the SHIP expression in transfected K562 cells were significantly increased. Compared with the migration ability of K562/wtSHIP\[(15.8 ± 1.4)%\], that of K562/muSHIP cells \[(54.3 ± 2.4)% \] increased greatly and almost at the same level of that of K562/pFIV\[(50.3 ± 3.8)%\] (P < 0.01). The invasion assay also showed that K562/wtSHIP\[(32 ± 6)/HP\] has a lower invasion ability than that of the K562/muSHIP group \[(83 ± 16)/HP\] and K562/pFIV group \[(78 ± 13)/HP\] (P < 0.01). Western blot analysis showed that the expression of p-FAK and NF-κB was up-regulated in K562/muSHIP group compared to that of the K562/wtSHIP group., Conclusions: The results confirmed that mutation in PxxP domain of SHIP gene played an important role in negative regulating function of SHIP gene. The mutation affects the cell migration and invasion ability through increase in MMP-9 expression, FAK phosphorylation and NF-κB activation. It suggested that the mutation of PxxP domain in SHIP gene might be pathogenic, and be one of the reasons for SHIP abnormality in leukemia.

Objective: To investigate the effect of SHIP gene mutation on the cell cycle and its related gene expression in K562 cells., Methods: The recombined green fluorescent protein (GFP) containing FIV-SHIP gene was transfected into K562 cells. The transfection efficiency and cell cycle of K562/SHIP were assessed by flow cytometry (FCM). The proliferation of K562 cells was detected by MTT assay, the mRNA levels of SHIP by real-time fluorescent relative-quantification reverse transcriptional PCR (FQ-PCR), and the protein levels of SHIP, Cyclin D1, p21(WAF1/CIPI) and p27(KIP1) by Western blot., Results: Wild type SHIP inhibited K562 cell proliferation and caused a G(0)/G(1) arrest \[(34.2 +/- 7.8)% vs (0.7 +/- 8.3)% (P < 0.01)\]; while the point mutation of SHIP gene did not show such effect. Western blot results showed that the Akt phosphorylation and cyclin D1 expression was significantly decreased (P < 0.01), and the expression of p27(KIP1) and p21(WAF1/CIPI) increased. Site-directed mutation of SHIP gene SH2 domain (TTC-->CTC, Phe-->Leu) did not influence the Akt phosphorylation and cyclins (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: (1) wtSHIP gene can down-regulate Akt phosphorylation and result in inhibition of cyclin D1 expression, up-regulating p27(KIP1) and p21(WAF1/CIPI) expression, finally leading to the reduction of K562 cell proliferation, and inducing G(0)/G(1) phase arrest. (2) SHIP gene suppresses the proliferation of K562, being dependent on its intact structure and function.

Objective: To investigate the methylation of CpG island in the SHP-1 gene promoter and its significance in lymphoma. To evaluate the effects of As2O3 on demethylation of SHP-1 in human lymphoma cell line T2 and on proliferation of T2 cells., Methods: T2 cells were treated with AsO3. Methylation specific PCR was used to detected the status of SHP-1 methylation in newly diagnosed lymphoma tissues and the T2 cells. The mRNA and protein expression of SHP-1 were determined by FQ-PCR and Western blot. The expression of phospha-c-kit was examined by Westren blot. MTT and flow cytometry were used to determine the growth and apoptosis in T2 cells., Results: T2 cells contained completely methylated SHP-1. Furthermore, there was constitutive c-kit phosphorylation. The expression of SHP-1 was recoverd when the cells exposed to AsO3, and concomitant with increasing SHP-1, a parallel down-regulation of phosphorylated c-kit occurred, so that by day 3 phosphorylated c-kit was barely detectable. As2O3 inhibited the cell growth, and the effects were dose- and time-dependent. As2O3 also increased apoptosis rate of T2 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, too, and on the 1, 2, 3 d treatment with AsO3 (2.5 micromol/L), the apoptosis rates were 6.12%, 26.53%, 50.90%, respectively. The frequency of methylation in SHP-1 gene promoter in lymphoma tissues was 87.5% (28/32). In the control group, however, 12 specimens of benign lymph node proliferation showed no methylation in CpG island of SHP-1 gene promoter., Conclusion: Hypermethylation of SHP-1 gene promoter in lymphoma indicates the inactivation of SHP-1 gene and its possible role in the tumorigenesis of lymphoma. As2O3 can effectively cause demethylation and inhibit the growth of tumor by reactivating the SHP-1 gene transcription. SHP-1 methylation leading to epigenetic activation of c-kit may have a tentative role in the pathogenesis of lymphoma. Therefore, As2O3 is potentially useful in the treatment of lymphoma as a demethylating agent.

The src homology 2 (SH2)-domain containing inositol-5-phosphatase (SHIP) is another recently identified lipid phosphatase after phosphatase and tensin homology deleted on chromosome ten gene (PTEN). It plays an important role in negatively regulating the proliferation of hematopoietic cells. The relationship between SHIP and the inhibition of tumor proliferation is rarely reported. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the apoptosis induced by SHIP gene in K562 cell line and to explore the involved signaling pathway. The K562 cells were transfected with human SHIP gene by using the lentiviral vector containing SHIP, and the transfection was verified by fluorescent quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR) and Western blot. Then the effects of SHIP protein expression on cell growth and apoptosis were measured. The levels of p-Akt, bcl-2 family, caspase and the activity of NFkappaB were assayed by Western blot and ELISA, respectively. The results are as follows: (1) Human leukemia cell line K562 was SHIP-negative; (2) Transfection with SHIP gene led to the re-expression of SHIP mRNA and protein in K562, as shown by FQ-PCR and Western blot; (3) The expression of SHIP protein inhibited cell growth and significantly increased apoptosis in K562 cells; (4) Compared to that in control group, the expression level of p-Akt-308 and p-Akt-473 in SHIP-expressing cell group decreased significantly (P<0.01); SHIP activated caspase-9, caspase-3, up-regulated protein levels of bad, p27, down-regulated expression of bcl-xL, while it had no effect on the expression of bcl-2 and bax. Furthermore, the inhibition of NF-kappaB was achieved along with the inactivation of Akt. These data suggest that SHIP gene has potential abilities to inhibit K562 leukemic cell proliferation and induce its apoptosis via inactivating PI3K/Akt pathway. The loss of SHIP might be the explanation of aberrant high-level p-Akt in human leukemia. It may be at least one of the mechanisms by which the loss of SHIP expression contributes to leukemia progression.

Background and Objective: The hemopoietic-restricted Src homology 2-containing inositol 5'-phosphatase (SHIP) acts as a negative regulator for the proliferation and survival of hematopoietic cells by hydrolysing the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-generated second messenger, PtdIns(3,4,5)-P3 (PI-3,4,5-P3) to PtdIns(3,4)-P2 (PI-3,4-P2). This study was to investigate the biological function of SHIP gene in pathogenesis of leukemia cells by lentiviral vector-mediated SHIP transfection., Methods: Ectopic SHIP gene was transfected into leukemia K562 cells by the mediation of lentiviral vector. The mRNA level of SHIP was detected by fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR). The expression of SHIP, Akt, and phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) was detected by Western blot. The proliferation and morphology of K562 cells before and after SHIP gene transfection were compared., Results: The proliferation of K562 cells was inhibited after transfection: the proliferation inhibition rate was increased from (9.9+/-1.5)% on Day 3 to (40.6+/-2.3)% on Day 5. K562 cells were SHIP-negative but expressed high level of p-Akt which was down-regulated from 0.533 to 0.245 (P<0.01) after SHIP transfection. Apoptotic characteristics were showed in K562 cells after SHIP transfection. The early apoptosis rate was significantly higher in K562-wtSHIP-FIV-G cells than in K562-FIV-G cells and untransfected K562 cells [(38.3+/-4.3)% vs. (8.2+/-0.9)% and (7.7+/-0.8)%, P<0.05]., Conclusions: SHIP gene can inhibit cell proliferation and promote cell apoptosis via inactivating PI3K/Akt pathway. Loss of SHIP might activate PI3K/Akt pathway and promote the proliferation of K562 cells.

The aim of this study was to investigate the regulation of 5-aza-CdR on transcription of SHP-1 gene and effects on the proliferation and apoptosis of K562 cells. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) was used to detect CpG island methylation in SHP-1 promoter. MTT and flow cytometry were used to detect the growth and apoptosis of K562 cells after treatment with different concentration of 5-aza-CdR. The expressions of SHP-1 mRNA and protein were determined by FQ-PCR and Western blot. The expression of p-JAK2 was assayed by Western blot. The result showed that methylation of SHP-1 gene promoter was detected in K562 cells, and the SHP-1 mRNA and protein were expressed again in K562 cells after treatment with 5-aza-CdR, meanwhile the expression of phosphorylated P-JAK2 was down-regulated; 5-aza-CdR significantly inhibited the cell growth in dose and time dependent manners. AG490 inhibited the cell proliferation. 5-aza-CdR increased the apoptosis rate of K562 cells also in dose- and time-dependent manners. The apoptosis rates of K562 cells treated with 5-aza-CdR for 1, 3 and 5 days were 9.3%, 24.2% and 37.7% respectively. After treatment with 2 micromol/L 5-aza-CdR for 24 hours, cells in G(0)/G(1) phase increased gradually, cells in G(2)/M phase decreased gradually, cells were arrested in G(0)/G(1) phase. The cell ratios in G(2)/M phase at 1, 3 and 5 days after treatment with 5-aza-CdR were 30.7%, 23.45 and 19.3% respectively. It is concluded that the 5-aza-CdR, inhibitor of specific methylation transferase, can re-express the silent SHP-1 gene in K562 cells, inhibits the proliferation of leukemia cells and induces cell apoptosis by activating JAK/STAT pathway.

Background and Objective: Inducing gene demethylation may be a mechanism of arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)) in treating hematologic cancers. This study was to investigate the effect of As(2)O(3) on demethylation of SH2-containing phosphatase-1 (SHP-1) in human lymphoma cell line T2 and on the proliferation of T2 cells., Methods: T2 cells were treated with As(2)O(3) and 5-aza-2'-deoxyoytidine (5-AC) alone or in combination. The methylation of SHP-1 in T2 cells was detected by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). The mRNA and protein expression of SHP-1 were determined by fluorescence quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) and Western blot. The expression of p-c-kit was detected by Western blot. Cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry., Results: As(2)O(3) led to progressive demethylation and re-expression of SHP-1 in T2 cells, as well as down-regulation of phosphorylated c-kit. As(2)O(3) inhibited the proliferation and promoted the apoptosis of T2 cells, and its effects were enhanced along with the increase of concentration and treatment time (p<0.05). The proliferation inhibition rates were significantly lower in As(2)O(3) (2.5 micromol/L) group than in combination (2.5 micromol/L As(2)O(3) plus 2 micromol/L 5-AC) group (9.8% vs. 11.0%on Day 1, 20.3% vs. 36.7% on Day 2, 47.5% vs. 61.0% on Day 3, p<0.05). The apoptosis rates were significantly higher in combination group than in As(2)O(3) group (17.3% vs. 6.1% on Day 1, 37.9% vs. 26.5% on Day 2, 67.9% vs. 50.9% on Day 3, p<0.05)., Conclusions: As(2)O(3) could cause demethylation and re-expression of SHP-1 in T2 cells, and may inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of T2 cells via suppressing activation of c-kit receptor and its signal transduction.

Objective: To investigate the effect of the wild type phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN), a tumor-suppressor gene on the proliferation and apoptosis of human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells line (K562) in vitro and explore the influence of PTEN-FAK signaling pathway on invasion and metastasis of leukemia cells., Methods: The recombinant Ad-PTEN gene containing green fluorescent protein gene (Ad-PTEN-GFP) or the empty vector (Ad-GFP) was transfected into K562 cells and fresh leukemia cells from CML patients in blast crisis. The growth of K562 cells was assayed by MTT assay; the apoptosis rate was assessed by flow cytometry (FCM). PTEN and FAK mRNA levels were detected by real-time fluorescent relative- quantification reverse transcriptional PCR (FQ-PCR) and its protein levels by Western blot. The metastasis and invasive ability was examined by transwell chamber assay., Results: The growth of K562 cells was suppressed markedly when Ad-PTEN-GFP was transfected into K562 cells at the 200 multiplicity of infection (MOI). The maximum growth inhibition rate was 35.2%. Transwell results showed the number of cells entered the lower chamber in Ad-GFP group was 9.1 fold more than that in Ad-PTEN-GFP group;The ability of metastasis and invasion of fresh leukemia cells was also suppressed after transfection with Ad-PTEN-GFP. FAK and p-FAK proteins were down-regulated by 0.72 and 0.16 fold lower after transfected with Ad-PTEN-GFP compared with Ad-GFP group., Conclusions: PTEN gene might inhibit the proliferation, metastasis and invasive ability of leukemia cells via down-regulating FAK expression.

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of recombinant mutant human TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (rmhTRAIL) combined with As(2)O(3) on inducing apoptosis of adriamycin-resistant leukemia cell line K562/A02 (mdr-1(+)). The morphologic changes of cells treated with rmhTRAIL were observed by inverted microscope, taking adriamycin-sensitive cell line K562 (mdr-1(-)) as control; the inhibitory rate of cell proliferation after being treated with rmhTRAIL, As(2)O(3) alone or combined was assayed by MTT method; the apoptosis peaks of K562/AO2 and K562 were quantitatively detected by flow cytometry with PI staining after being treated with rmhTRAIL, As(2)O(3) alone or in combination. The results indicated that the inhibition effect of rmhTRAIL and As(2)O(3) in combination on K562/AO2 and K562 cells was higher than that of riTRAIL and As(2)O(3) alone (p < 0.01), rmhTRAIL combined with As(2)O(3) had synergistic effect in killing K562/AO2 and K562 cells by king's formula. The apoptosis rates of K562/AO2 and K562 cells were 34.93 +/- 0.10% and 10.53 +/- 0.16% (p < 0.01), as well as 5.95 +/- 0.07%, and 3.50 +/- 0.01% (p < 0.05), 50.95 +/- 0.91% and 20.75 +/- 0.95% (p < 0.05) respectively when their cells were treated by rmhTRAIL and As(2)O(3) alone. The apoptosis rate in K562/AO2 group was higher than that in K562 group. It is concluded that rmhTRAIL can induce K562/A02 and K562 cell apoptosis; rmhTRAIL combined As(2)O(3) had synergistic effects; the efficacy of on rmhTRAIL or As(2)O(3) inducing K562/AO2 cell apoptosis is higher than that on their parental cell line K562.

In order to investigate the relationship between VEGF and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, -9 in acute myeloid leukemia patients, and evaluate the significance of them in extramedullary leukemic invasion, the expressions of MMP-2 mRNA, MMP-9 mRNA, VEGF mRNA in bone marrow from 86 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), as well as human hematopoietic cell lines were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The proteolytic activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the supernatants were measured by zymography. The VEGF protein in serum of all samples was detected by ELISA. All these results were analyzed for determination of the relationship between VEGF and MMP-2, MMP-9. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between expressions of MMP-2 mRNA or MMP-9 mRNA and VEGF mRNA or protein. But no such correlation was demonstrated in the AML (CR) and normal control (NC) groups. A higher expression level of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the VEGF positive group was found, as compared with the negative group (P < 0.05). More extramedullary infiltration occurred in VEGF positive groups than that in VEGF negative groups of AML. The expression of bcl-2 in HL-60 cells was upregulated by VEGF. It is concluded that there are significantly positive correlations between the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 with VEGF mRNA or protein levels in AML patients. VEGF can upregulate the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 in HL-60 and a part of the primary leukemic cells. VEGF and MMP-2, MMP-9 may participate in the extramedullary leukemic invasion of AML patients.