Objective: To study the expression level of TRF1 (telomeric repeat binding factor 1) protein in human acute leukemia and relationship between expression level of TRF1 protein and telomerase.
Methods: A quantitative Western-Blot technique was developed using anti-TRF1(33-277) monoclonal antibody and GST-TRF1 purity protein as a standard to further determine the expression level of TRF1 protein in total proteins extracted from clinical specimens.
Results: Bone marrow tissues of 20 acute leukemia patients were studied, 11 healthy donors' bone marrows were taken as a control. The expression level of TRF1 protein was significantly higher (P<0.01) in normal bone marrow ((2.217+/-0.462) microg/microl) than that of acute leukemia patients ((0.754+/-0.343) microg/microl). But there was no remarkable difference between ALL and ANLL patients ((0.618+/-0.285) microg/microl vs (0.845+/-0.359) microg/microl, P>0.05). After chemotherapy, TRF1 expression level of patients with complete remission elevated ((0.772+/-0.307) microg/microl vs (1.683+/-0.344) microg/microl, P<0.01), but lower than that of normal ((2.217+/-0.462) microg/microl, P<0.01). There was no significantly difference after chemotherapy ((0.726+/-0.411) microg/microl vs (0.895+/-0.339) microg/microl, P>0.05). TRF1 expression level of patients with complete remission is higher than that of patients without complete remission ((1.683+/-0.344) microg/microl vs (0.895+/-0.339) microg/microl, P<0.01). All samples were determined for telomerase activity. It was confirmed that the activity of telomerase in normal bone marrow was lower than that of acute leukemia patients ((0.125+/-0.078) microg/microl vs (0.765+/-0.284) microg/microl, P<0.01). There was no significant difference of expression level of TRF1 protein between ALL and ANLL patients ((0.897+/-0.290) microg/microl vs (0.677+/-0.268) microg/microl, P>0.05). After chemotherapy, telomerase activity of patients with complete remission decreased ((0.393+/-0.125) microg/microl), but was still higher than that of normal ((0.125+/-0.078) microg/microl, P<0.01).
Conclusion: The expression level of TRF1 protein has correlativity to the activity of telomerase (P<0.001).