Expression of WT1 gene in CD34(+)CD38(-)CD123(+) AML stem cells and its significance analysis.

To investigate whether WT1 gene overexpressed in leukemic stem cells (LSCs) and its significance. Expression of WT1(+17AA) and WT1(+KTS) gene isoforms in CD34(+)CD38(-)CD123(+) cells (LSCs) of 47 AML patients were determined by fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR. The ratio of the four splicing isoforms WT1(+/+), WT1(+/-), WT1(-/+) and WT1(-/-) in LSCs were calculated and compared with that in normal CD34(+)CD38(-)CD123(-) cells (HSCs). The relationship in AML patients between LSCs WT1 expression and remission rate, survival time and relapse rate was analyzed. The expression of WT1 gene was highest (0.034 +/- 0.034) in LSCs, and higher in CD34(+)CD38(-)CD123(-) AML cells as compared with that in HSCs (P < 0.05). The proportion of +17AA isoform was predominant over -17AA in all the three cell subsets with no difference. The proportion of +KTS isoform was the highest in HSCs (0.57 +/- 0.04), while the lowest in CD34(+)CD38(-)CD123(-)AML cells (0.50 +/- 0.12) (P < 0.05). No significant difference in the four isofor