Abstract

Background: AFF family genes (AFFs) are closely related to the occurrence, development and prognosis of leukemia, but its relationship with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is not clear. This study aims to explore the relationship between AFFs and the prognosis of AML through bioinformatics methods and clinical data.

Methods: The expression and prognostic value of AFFs in AML were analyzed by databases such as ONCOMINE, GEPIA, EMBL-EBI, TCGA and CCLE. We collected 32 clinical cases, including 24 cases of AML (non-M3 type) and 8 cases of benign individuals. The expression level of AFF1 was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and western blotting.

Results: In multiple databases and cell lines, the RNA expression levels of AFF1, AFF2, AFF3 and AFF4 in AML were higher than those in the control group. This relationship was further verified in AML patients by RT-qPCR. Among them, the high expression of AFF1 was statistically significant (P<0.05). At the protein level, the expression of AFF1 in AML patients and cell lines was also higher than that in controls (P<0.05). High expression of AFF1 was significantly associated with poor prognosis in AML (P<0.05).

Conclusion: AFFs expression levels was significantly higher in AML. Particularly, the high expression of AFF1 was significantly related to a poor prognosis of AML. It indicated that AFF1 might be a potential therapeutic target for AML.

Keywords: AFFs; Acute myeloid leukemia; Bioinformatics analysis; Prognosis