Correlation of SNHG7 and BGL3 expression in patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia; novel insights into lncRNA effect in PI3K signaling context in AML pathogenesis

Background

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been identified as a top priority for discovering a reliable biomarker for treatment improvement and patient outcome prediction due to the heterogeneous nature of AML and the obstacle to find an appropriate treatment strategy for this malignancy. Considering the involvement of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) SNHG7 and BGL3 found in various cancers, the exact expression pattern of these lncRNAs and their clinical implications in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) continue to be elusive. In order to demonstrate a possible mechanism underlying AML pathogenesis, our goal was to examine BGL3 and SNHG7 lncRNA expressions in PI3K pathway.

Methods

This case-control cross-sectional study were conducted on RNA extracted from blood samples of 30 patients diagnosed with AML (Ayatollah-Khansari hospital, Arak, Iran) and 30 (age and gender matched) healthy controls. The expression levels of SNHG7 and BGL3 lncRNAs and their target genes Akt and PTEN, were measured using qRT-PCR. Subsequently, by means of statistical analysis, we determined the plausible correlation between the expressions of the aforementioned genes and lncRNA respectively.

Results

In AML samples, a considerable increase in the expression levels of SNHG7 lncRNA and Akr gene was accompanied by a marked reduction in the expression levels of BGL3 lncRNA and PTEN gene. Nevertheless, No significant relationship between the expression level of the indicated genes/lncRNAs and age and sex was found. The remarkable correlation between the expression of genes/lncRNAs and the blast percentage in patients was the notable point in the result of this study.

Conclusions

As the most straightforward interpretation of our results, we propose that perhaps the association between SNHG7 and BGL3 built through the interaction between Akt and PTEN may play a crucial role in the AML pathogenesis and any element of this axis could be a potential novel target for further profound treatment strategies. Nonetheless, in the context of Hematological Malignancies, particularly AML, more detailed studies are needed in this area to elucidate the precise role played by this interesting testis-specific pathway.