Evaluation of GRAF Gene Expression in Patients with B-ALL Referred to Mashhad Hospitals and Its Relationship with Clinical and Laboratory Findings

Background and Objective: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a disorder caused by the proliferation of malignant immature lymphoid cells. GRAF (GTPase regulator associated with focal adhesion kinase) which acts as a tumor suppressor gene is disabled in hematologic malignancies due to genetic and epigenetic abnormalities. In this study, GRAF gene expression was inspected in patients with B-ALL. Materials and Methods: Peripheral blood samples from 60 patients with B-ALL and 30 healthy controls were collected. DNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized. GRAF gene expression was measured using Real-Time PCR and the relationship between GRAF expression and clinical and laboratory findings were investigated. Results: GRAF gene expression was significantly decreased in patients compared to the control group (0.87). The number of patients who had a reduction in their GRAF gene expression was 73.4% (44 of 60 patients). GRAF expression had no significant difference in the FAB morphological subtypes. Conclusion: Results of this study showed that GRAF gene expression is decreased in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The reduction in GRAF gene expression confirms its tumor suppressive role in this leukemia.