Abstract
We previously showed that Wilms tumor gene (WT1) expression level, measured by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), was useful as an indicator of minimal residual disease (MRD) in leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. However, in conventional quantitative RT-PCR (CQ-PCR), RT-PCR must be performed for various numbers of cycles depending onWT1 expression level. In the present study, we developed a new real-time quantitative RT-PCR (RQ-PCR) method for quantitatingWT1 transcripts. Results of intraassay and interassay variability tests demonstrated that the real-timeWT1 assay had high reproducibility.WT1 expression levels measured by the RQ- and the CQ-PCR methods were strongly correlated (r = 0.998). Furthermore, a strong correlation was observed amongWT1 transcript values normalized with 3 different control genes (β-actin,ABL, andglyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) and between relativeWT1 transcript values withWT1 expression in K562 cells as the reference and absoluteWT1 transcript copy numbers per microgram RNA. WhenWT1 expression andminor bcr-abl expression were concurrently monitored in 2 patients withbcr-abl-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, both MRDs changed mostly in parallel, indicating the reliability and validity of our RQ-PCR method. In conclusion, this RQ-PCR method is convenient and reliable for monitoring MRD and enables routine clinical use of aWT1 assay.
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Tamaki, H., Mishima, M., Kawakami, M. et al. Monitoring Minimal Residual Disease in Leukemia Using Real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction for Wilms Tumor Gene (WT1). Int J Hematol 78, 349–356 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02983561
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02983561