BAX and PKCα Modulate the Prognostic Impact of BCL2 Expression in Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Previously, we demonstrated that the level of BCL2 expression is prognostic in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). High levels of BCL2 correlate with an adverse outcome when associated with favorable and intermediate prognosis cytogenetics (FIPC), whereas low levels portend an adverse outcome when associated with unfavorable cytogenetics (UC). Because BCL2 function can be modulated by dimerization with family members, like BAX, or by phosphorylation by protein kinase C α (PKCα), we hypothesize that the relative expression of these proteins in primary leukemic cells might alter the prognostic impact of BCL2 expression. We therefore measured BAX and PKCα protein levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cell lysates from 165 newly diagnosed AML patients and correlated the expression of these proteins with BCL2 expression, patient survival, and remission induction success. Expression levels of BAX and PKCα were normalized against a control cell line, K562. BAX and PKCα expression levels were heterogeneous and did not correlate with the percentage of blasts in the sample ( R 2 = 0.01 and