AMPLIFICATION AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF FLT3 GENE INVOLVED IN CANCER THERAPHY

Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) an important protein that plays a role in heamatopoiesis. FLT3 genes are involved in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation, and thereby affecting the susceptibility to Leukemia. In recent times, the focus of several studies was on use of FLT3 as a marker. The present study investigated the amplification and phylogenetic analysis of FLT3 mutations in acute leukemia patients. A total of 50 patients were studied, of which 20 were suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 30 were suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The polymerase chain reaction demonstrated FLT3 mutations in 2 of 20 ALL patients, two males. In AML cases the rate was 5 of 30, three males and two females. The AML-M4 subtype was found in three and the AML M2 subtype in the other. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML) FLT3 mutation was more prevalent in elderly patients 30-40 age groups, 20-30 and 50-60 age groups respectively. In acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) no significant relationship was found statistically between FLT3 positivity and clinical features. However, in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) FLT3 mutation was more commonly found in age groups of 20-30. We identified 10 genes coding for FLT3 and their locus regions. Multiple alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that the total FLT3 family proteins formed five branches. From the result we identified mutations within FLT3 domain region.