Evaluation of GRAF Gene Expression in Patients with B-ALL Referred to Mashhad Hospitals and Its Relationship with Clinical and Laboratory Findings

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a disorder caused by the proliferation of malignant immature lymphoid cells. GRAF (GTPase regulator associated with focal adhesion kinase) which acts as a tumor suppressor gene is disabled in hematologic malignancies due to genetic and epigenetic abnormalities. In this study, GRAF gene expression was inspected in patients with B-ALL.
Peripheral blood samples from 60 patients with B-ALL and 30 healthy controls were collected. DNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized. GRAF gene expression was measured using Real-Time PCR and the relationship between GRAF expression and clinical and laboratory findings were investigated.
GRAF gene expression was significantly decreased in patients compared to the control group (0.87).
The number of patients who had a reduction in their GRAF gene expression was 73.4% (44 of 60 patients). GRAF expression had no significant difference in the FAB morphological subtypes.
Results of this study showed that GRAF gene expression is decreased in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The reduction in GRAF gene expression confirms its tumor suppressive role in this leukemia.