Bone Marrow Cells From Low-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome Patients Show Features of Enhanced Autophagy

Abstract 4961 Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a preneoplastic condition that frequently develops into overt acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Beclin 1, a gene plays an important role in autophagy, has been recognized as a tumour suppressor. The aberrant expression of Beclin 1 has been correlated to the development and progression of cancer. However, The function and expression of Beclin 1 in MDS is largely unexplored. The present study aimed to investigate Beclin 1 expression and its correlation with IPSS in bone marrow cells from Patients with Low-Risk MDS. We have analyzed the expression of Beclin 1 in BM mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) from patients of Low-Risk MDS (31 cases), 22 AML(22 cases) and healthy control (9 cases) by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), immunofluorescence and western blot analysis. The expression level of Beclin 1 mRNA is significantly higher in BMMNCs in patients with Low-Risk MDS(mean± SD=6.26±4.87) when compared to healthy controls (mean± SD= 1.52±1.37), and the IPSS score was negatively correlated with the percentage of Beclin 1 positive cells. A markedly decreased expression of Beclin 1 was observed in AML (mean± SD=1.12±1.04) compared with healthy controls. The amount of Beclin 1 protein determined by either western blotting or immunofluorescence was markedly increased in MDS compared with that in controls (P Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.