Expression Profile of LncRNAs in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Pilot Study

Background: Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) explains 26% of pediatric malignancies and is one of the leading causes of disease-related deaths in children. A novel molecular class of non-coding genes, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) having over 200 nucleotides, have been defined as regulators of different cellular processes including pluripotency, oncogenesis, and transcription. It has been demonstrated that lncRNA transcription profiles can distinguish pre B-cell subtype of ALL accurately and act as early diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Hence, the aim of this pilot study was the prior evaluation of expression profile of several lncRNA candidates including RP11-68I18.10, RP11-624C23.1, RP11-446E9, RP11- 137H2.4, and RP11-203E8 in patients with ALL. Methods: In this study, 80 blood samples were obtained from patients, definitely diagnosed by pathologists with ALL, and from healthy subjects. Total RNA was extracted from blood samples, and cDNA was synthesized. Real-time PCR was applied to determine the expression of lncRNAs. A P-value of 0.010 was considered statistically significant. Results: Our findings revealed that the expression levels of lncRNAs RP11-624C23.1, RP11- 446E9, RP11-137H2.4, RP11-68I18.10, and RP11-203E8 were significantly decreased in ALL samples compared to those of healthy samples (P 0.0001, P =0.0616, P =0.0292, P 0.0001, and P = 0.0007). Moreover, the relationship between these five lncRNA expression changes and the immunophenotype in ALL patients was not significant. Conclusion: The dysregulation of lncRNAs in ALL samples could provide a novel and interesting possibility for early diagnosis and prognosis, as well as mastering the treatment of ALL.