Aberrant expression and significance of OCT-4A transcription factor in leukemia cells.

Abstract Objective To determine the contribution of the OCT-4 to the pathogenesis of leukemia. Methods Bone marrow (BM) samples obtained from 72 patients with leukemia, and 18 normal healthy subjects were assayed for their OCT-4 expression using both flow cytometry and RT-PCR. Results OCT-4 expression in BM nucleated cells of acute leukemia patients (n = 33) was significantly higher than that of complete remission and chronic phase leukemia patients (n = 39, p  Conclusion OCT-4A expression was significantly increased in the BM nucleated cells of patients with acute leukemia, indicating that OCT-4A may play an important role in the pathogenesis of leukemia and may serve as a molecular target for the development of novel diagnostic and treatment strategies in leukemia.