Circular RNA PVT1 Expression and its Roles in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

Aim: The roles of circular RNA PVT1 (circPVT1) are explored in the patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Methods: The circPVT1 level was detected by qRT-PCR and western blot. The apoptotic cells were examined by the annexin V assay in lentiviral shRNA knockdown cells. Results:circPVT1 was highly expressed in ALL compared with normal bone marrow samples. circPVT1 expression was also significantly higher in ALL cell lines. circPVT1 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis through suppression of its neighbor gene c-Myc, and antiapoptotic Bcl-2 protein expression. Conclusion:circPVT1 is upregulated in ALL. Silencing circPVT1 results in cell growth arrest and apoptosis of the cells. Our results also suggested a therapeutic potential of targeting circPVT1 in ALL.

Keywords::

• acute lymphoblastic leukemia
• Bcl-2
• circPVT1
• c-Myc

Acknowledgements

We thank Y Chen in Nanjing Medical University for providing the lentiviral pLL3.7-GFP, pdelta-8.91 and pVSVG construct and thank the developers of ‘SPSS’ and the ‘graghpad’ for creating these useful platforms.

Authors’ contributions

Z Ge, J Hu, Q Han, Y Gu, J Ma and B Chen performed experiments and analyzed data; Z Ge conceived and designed the study; Z Ge, J Hu, M McGrath and C Song performed analysis of data and drafting of the manuscript; Q Han and Y Gu collected clinical data and statistical analysis; all authors reviewed the manuscript before submission; all the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work is supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81770172, 81602300); Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation-Youth Foundation (BK20170699, BK20160139); The Key Research & Technology Projects in Jiangsu Province (BE2017747); Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership (MMAAP) Foundation Research Project Award in Hematology (2017). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

All the patients provided their written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki before enrolment in the study. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Nanjing Medical University and Zhongda Hospital Southeast University, Nanjing, China.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81770172, 81602300); Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation-Youth Foundation (BK20170699, BK20160139); The Key Research & Technology Projects in Jiangsu Province (BE2017747); Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership (MMAAP) Foundation Research Project Award in Hematology (2017). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscrip.t