Overexpression of VOPP1 and PIK3C2B genes in chronic lymphoblastic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic B cell leukemia (CLL) is a mature Bcell neoplasm which is more common in men older than 60. Although some biomarkers such as chromosomal abnormality, b2microglobulin (b2M), CD38 expression, high expression of unmutated immunoglobulin heavy chain variable gene (IGHV) and ZAP-70 have been proved as a predictor of this disease, lot of unknown factors still to discover. In this study, we evaluated the expression level of two genes (VOPP1 and PIK3C2B), which involved in many cancers, in CLL patients for the first time. VOPP1 (Vesi1AQKJKWcular Overexpressed in cancer Prosurvival Protein 1) boosts the transcriptional activity of NFKB1 by helping its nuclear translocation. Also, VOPP1 overexpression has been reported in tumorigenesis and decreasessusceptibility of apoptosis. PIK3C2B (phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit type 2 beta) plays a critical role in signaling pathways involved in cell proliferation, oncogenic transformation, cell survival, cell migration, and intracellular protein trafficking. After quality control, total RNA peripheral blood of at least 58 patients with CLL and 60 age and sex-matched healthy individuals extracted using TRIZOL. After evaluation of concentration and integrity of extracted RNA, About 500 ng of the total RNA reverse transcribed into cDNA. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using the SYBR green method to determine the expression level of each gene. Relative gene expression levels were calculated against the expression of the housekeeping gene(ACTB) as internal controlswith the Livak method.Our results showed a significant higher expression of VOPP1 and PIK3C2B in CLL patients in comparison with healthy control group (P≤0.05) which is compatible with findings in another type of cancers