抄録
Iron is essential in regulating the proliferation/differentiation of normal and tumor cells. Transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) and TfR2-alpha are important proteins for iron transport in leukemia cells. However, the regulation of TfRs remains controversial. This study used real-time PCR to evaluate the levels of TfR1 and TfR2-alpha mRNA in samples from various hematological diseases: 76 acute myeloid leukemia, 38 myelodysplastic syndrome, 9 chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 13 chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase, and 6 benign hematological diseases. A positive correlation was observed between the TfR1 and the TfR2-alpha mRNA levels and all conditions. The mRNA levels for both TfRs were low in acute monocytic leukemia (M5) and high in erythroleukemia (M6). These results suggested that TfR mRNA is affected by heme synthesis and the leukemia cell lineage. In contrast, the TfR mRNA levels were both inversely correlated with initial white blood cell counts in acute myeloid leukemia cases. These findings point to a TfR-independent iron mechanism involved in leukemia cell proliferation.
