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Polycythemia vera (PV) is a clonal disorder resulting from neoplastic transformation of hematopoietic stem cells, while secondary polycythemia (SP) is a disease characterized by increased absolute red blood cell mass caused by stimulation of red blood cell production. Although the physiopathology of SP and PV is distinct, patients with these diseases share similar symptoms. The early differential diagnosis may improve the quality of life and decrease the disease burden in PV patients, as well as enable curative treatment for SP patients. PV is considered an oncoinflammatory disease because PV patients exhibit augmented levels of several pro-inflammatory cytokines. In this sense, we examined whether analysis of the cytokine production profile of SP and PV patients would help to distinguish them, despite their clinical similarities. Here we reported that SP patients exhibited decreased plasma levels of, IL-17A, IFN-γ, IL-12p70 and TNF-α when compared with PV patients, suggesting that analysis of the cytokine production profile may be an useful diagnostic biomarker to distinguish PV from SP patients.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are hematological disorders characterized by increased proliferation of precursor and mature myeloid cells. MPN patients may present driver mutations in JAK2, MPL, and CALR genes, which are essential to describe the molecular mechanisms of MPN pathogenesis. Despite all the new knowledge on MPN pathogenesis, many questions remain to be answered to develop effective therapies to cure MPN or impair its progression to acute myeloid leukemia. The present study examined the expression levels of the Hippo signaling pathway members in patients with polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and primary myelofibrosis (PMF), as well as the role that they play in disease pathogenesis. The Hippo pathway is a tumor suppressor pathway that participates in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation, and death. Our main findings were: (i) expression of tumor suppressor genes from Hippo pathway were downregulated and seemed to be associated with cell resistance to apoptosis and increased proliferation rate; and (ii) Hippo pathway-related gene expression was associated with mutation status in ET and PMF patients. Therefore, the decreased expression of Hippo pathway-related genes may contribute to the malignant phenotype, apoptosis resistance, and cell proliferation in MPN pathogenesis.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythaemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis constitute a group of haematological diseases. The comprehensive assessment of signaling pathway activation in blood cells may aid the understanding of MPN pathophysiology. Thus, levels of post-translational protein modifications and total protein expression were determined in MPN patients and control leukocytes by using reverse-phase protein arrays (RPPA). Compared to control samples, p-SRC, p-CTNNB1, c-MYC, MCL-1, p-MDM2, BAX and CCNB1 showed higher expression in PV samples than controls. P-JAK2/JAK2 and pro-apoptotic BIM showed differential expression between JAK2V617F-positive and -negative ET patients. Apoptosis, cancer and PI3K/AKT pathways proteins showed differential expression among the studied groups. For most of the proteins analyzed using Western-Blot and RPPA, RPPA showed higher sensitivity to detect subtle differences. Taken together, our data indicate deregulated protein expression in MPN patients compared to controls. Thus, RPPA may be a useful method for broad proteome analysis in MPN patients´ leukocytes.

The pathogenesis and clinical outcomes of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) involve genetic and molecular anomalies. The most prevalent somatic mutation in polycythemia vera (PV), essential thromb...

Background/Aims: We investigated the effects of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) on the expression of apoptosis-related genes (BCL-2 and death receptor family members) in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 32 healthy subjects and 26 CML patients were evaluated before and after treatment with imatinib mesylate (IM) and dasatinib (DAS) by quantitative PCR. Results: Anti-apoptotic genes (c-FLIP and MCL-1) were overexpressed and the pro-apoptotic BIK was reduced in CML patients. Expression of BMF, A1, c-FLIP, MCL-1, CIAP-2 and CIAP-1 was modulated by DAS. In IM-resistant patients, expression of A1, c-FLIP, CIAP-1 and MCL-1 was upregulated, and BCL-2, CIAP-2, BAK, BAX, BIK and FASL expression was downregulated. Conclusion: Taken together, our results point out that, in CML, DAS interferes with the apoptotic machinery regulation. In addition, the data suggest that apoptosis-related gene expression profiles are associated with primary resistance to IM.

MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that inhibit posttranscriptional gene expression through deadenylation and cleavage. Th ese molecules play crucial roles in regulating cell diff erentiation, proliferation and apoptosis [1]. MicroRNA expression levels are strongly associated with numerous human pathogenic diseases [2]. Th us, the discovery of microRNAs has opened up a wide range of possibilities regarding the understanding of disease pathophysiology and the development of new therapeutic agents. Recent studies show that microRNAs may participate in the regulation of apoptosis machinery (apoptomiRs). Apoptosis is a programmed cell death, orchestrated by the BCL-2 protein family, death receptors and inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) [3]. Deregulated apoptosis is associated with tumorigenesis and autoimmunity [3] and seems to contribute to myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), which are clonal disorders characterized by myeloaccumulation and in most cases by the presence of a somatic mutation in Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) [4]. Our research group previously described abnormal apoptosis in patients with MPNs [5 – 7]. We found abnormal expression of death-receptor pathway-related genes such as FAIM and C-FLIP in leukocytes and CD34 � hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) [5], and deregulation of BCL-2 family members associated with JAK2 mutation [6,7]. Th ese fi ndings led us to investigate the molecular mechanisms associated with apoptosis deregulation in patients with MPNs. In this study, we sought to identify microRNAs whose targets are apoptosis-related genes, investigate their expression in patients with MPNs, and correlate this with the expression of apoptosis-related genes and JAK2 mutation allele burden using three algorithms (websites: http://www.diana.pcbi. upenn.edu/cgi-bin/miRGen/v3/Targets.cgi; Microcosm Targets: http://www.ebi.ac.uk/enright-srv/microcosm/cgi-bin/ targets/v5/hit_list.pl?genome_id � 2964; and Target Scan: http://www.targetscan.org). Th e microRNAs and their respective target genes (apoptosis-related genes) predicted by the bioinformatics tools are as follows: miR-15a: BIK and BCL-2; miR-16: BID, BIK, BCL-2 and BCL xl; miR-26a: C-FLIP, CIAP-2 and MCL-1; miR-130b: CIAP-2; miR-21: CIAP-2, FASL and BCL-2; miR-29c: CIAP-1 and MCL-1; and miR-let-7d: A1, BAX, FAS and FASL. In this study, we investigated apoptomiRs miR-26a, -130b, -21, -29c, -let-7d, -15a and -16. We quantifi ed their expression in bone marrow CD34 � HSCs and peripheral blood leukocytes in 27 patients with polycythemia vera (PV), 25 with essential thrombocythemia (ET) and 12 with primary myelofi brosis (PMF) (26 males and 38 females, mean age: 60.5 years). Th e bone marrow control group comprised 14 bone mar

Despite all the knowledge, the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) pathophysiology remain unclear. Authors have shown galectin-1 (Gal-1) and 3 playing roles in tumour angiogenesis and fibrosis, which were correlated with poor prognosis in patients with MPN. In the present study LGALS1 and LGALS3 were differently expressed between polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF) diseases. Increased LGALS3 expression was associated with a negative JAK2 V617F status mutation in leucocytes from PMF but not in patients with ET without this mutation. However, a positive Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) V617F cell line established from patients with ET (SET-2 cells) when treated with JAK inhibitor presented high levels of LGALS3. Additionally, high LGALS1 expression was found in CD34(+) cells but not in leucocytes from patients with PMF, in absence of JAK2 V617F mutation, and also in SET-2 cells treated with JAK inhibitor. Thus, our findings indicate that differential expression of LGALS1 and/or LGALS3 in patients with MPN is linked with JAK2 V617F status mutation in these diseases and state of cell differentiation.

Summary Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by T cell-mediated destruction of pancreatic β cells, resulting in insulin deficiency and hyperglycaemia. Recent studies have described that apoptosis impairment during central and peripheral tolerance is involved in T1D pathogenesis. In this study, the apoptosis-related gene expression in T1D patients was evaluated before and after treatment with high-dose immunosuppression followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HDI-AHSCT). We also correlated gene expression results with clinical response to HDI-AHSCT. We observed a decreased expression of bad, bax and fasL pro-apoptotic genes and an increased expression of a1, bcl-xL and cIAP-2 anti-apoptotic genes in patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) compared to controls. After HDI-AHSCT, we found an up-regulation of fas and fasL and a down-regulation of anti-apoptotic bcl-xL genes expression in post-HDI-AHSCT periods compared to pre-transplantation. Additionally, the levels of bad, bax, bok, fasL, bcl-xL and cIAP-1 genes expression were found similar to controls 2 years after HDI-AHSCT. Furthermore, over-expression of pro-apoptotic noxa at 540 days post-HDI-AHSCT correlated positively with insulin-free patients and conversely with glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GAD65) autoantibody levels. Taken together, the results suggest that apoptosis-related genes deregulation in patients' PBMCs might be involved in breakdown of immune tolerance and consequently contribute to T1D pathogenesis. Furthermore, HDI-AHSCT modulated the expression of some apoptotic genes towards the levels similar to controls. Possibly, the expression of these apoptotic molecules could be applied as biomarkers of clinical remission of T1D patients treated with HDI-AHSCT therapy.

Philadelphia-chromosome negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms are clonal hematologic diseases characterized by hematopoietic progenitor independence from or hypersensitivity to cytokines. The cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of myeloproliferative neoplasms have not yet been fully clarified. Pathophysiologic findings relevant for myeloproliferative neoplasms are associated with genetic alterations, such as, somatic mutation in the gene that codifies JAK-2 (JAK V617F). Deregulation of the process of programmed cellular death, called apoptosis, seems to participate in the pathogenesis of these disorders. It is known that expression deregulation of pro- and anti-apoptotic genes promotes cell resistance to apoptosis, culminating with the accumulation of myeloid cells and establishing neoplasms. This review will focus on the alterations in apoptosis regulation in myeloproliferative neoplasms, and the importance of a better understanding of this mechanism for the development of new therapies for these diseases.

Background Chronic myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs) are clonal haematopoietic stem cell malignancies characterised by an accumulation of mature myeloid cells in bone marrow and peripheral blood. Deregulation of the apoptotic machinery may be associated with MPD physiopathology. Aims To evaluate expression of death receptors9 family members, mononuclear cell apoptosis resistance, and JAK2 allele burden. Subjects and Methods Bone marrow haematopoietic progenitor CD34 cells were separated using the Ficoll-hypaque protocol followed by the Miltenyi CD34 isolation kit, and peripheral blood leukocytes were separated by the Haes-Steril method. Total RNA was extracted by the Trizol method, the High Capacity Kit was used to synthesise cDNA, and real-time PCR was performed using SybrGreen in ABIPrism 7500 equipment. The results of gene expression quantification are given as 2 −ΔΔCt . The JAK2 V617F mutation was detected by real-time allelic discrimination PCR assay. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated by the Ficoll-hypaque protocol and cultured in the presence of apoptosis inducers. Results In CD34 cells, there was mRNA overexpression for fas , faim and c-flip in polycythaemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythaemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF), as well as fasl in PMF, and dr4 levels were increased in ET. In leukocytes, fas , c-flip and trail levels were increased in PV, and dr5 expression was decreased in ET. There was an association between dr5 and fasl expression and JAK2V617F mutation. PBMCs from patients with PV, ET or PMF showed resistance to apoptosis inducers. Conclusions The results indicate deregulation of apoptosis gene expression, which may be associated with MPD pathogenesis leading to accumulation of myeloid cells in MPDs.

Background Essential Thrombocythemia (ET) and Primary Myelofibrosis (PMF) are Chronic Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) characterized by clonal myeloproliferation/myeloaccumulation without cell maturation impairment. The JAK2 V617F mutation and PRV1 gene overexpression may contribute to MPN physiopathology. We hypothesized that deregulation of the apoptotic machinery may also play a role in the pathogenesis of ET and PMF. In this study we evaluated the apoptosis-related gene and protein expression of BCL2 family members in bone marrow CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and peripheral blood leukocytes from ET and PMF patients. We also tested whether the gene expression results were correlated with JAK2 V617F allele burden percentage, PRV1 overexpression, and clinical and laboratory parameters. Results By real time PCR assay, we observed that A1, MCL1, BIK and BID, as well as A1, BCLW and BAK gene expression were increased in ET and PMF CD34+ cells respectively, while pro-apoptotic BAX and anti-apoptotic BCL2 mRNA levels were found to be lower in ET and PMF CD34+ cells respectively, in relation to controls. In patients' leukocytes, we detected an upregulation of anti-apoptotic genes A1, BCL2, BCL-X L and BCLW. In contrast, pro-apoptotic BID and BIM EL expression were downregulated in ET leukocytes. Increased BCL-XL protein expression in PMF leukocytes and decreased BID protein expression in ET leukocytes were observed by Western Blot. In ET leukocytes, we found a correlation between JAK2 V617F allele burden and BAX, BIK and BAD gene expression and between A1, BAX and BIK and PRV1 gene expression. A negative correlation between PRV1 gene expression and platelet count was observed, as well as a positive correlation between PRV1 gene expression and splenomegaly. Conclusions Our results suggest the participation of intrinsic apoptosis pathway in the MPN physiopathology. In addition, PRV1 and JAK2 V617F allele burden were linked to deregulation of the apoptotic machinery.