Altered expression of MALAT1 lncRNA in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients, correlation with cytogenetic findings.

Background: Recent studies have devoted much attention to non-protein-coding transcripts in relation to a wide range of malignancies. MALAT1 , a long non-coding RNA, has been reported to be associated with cancer progression and prognosis. Thus, we here determined MALAT1 gene expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a genetically heterogeneous disease, and explored its possible relationships with cytogenetic abnormalities.

Methods: MALAT1 expression level was evaluated using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) on blood mononuclear cells from 30 non-treated CLL patients and 30 matched healthy controls. Cytogenetic abnormalities were determined in patients by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).

Results: MALAT1 expression level was up-regulated in the CLL group compared to healthy controls ( P =0.008). Del13q14, followed by Del11q22, were the most prevalent cytogenetic abnormalities. We found no association between the FISH results and MALAT1 expression in patients.

Conclusion: Altered expression of MALAT1 is associated with CLL development. Further investigations are required to assess the relationship between this long non-coding RNA and CLL patient survival and prognosis.