Purine metabolism in B-cell lymphocytic leukemia: a microarray approach

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is an adult-onset highly heterogeneous malignancy characterized by a cells resistance to apoptosis rather than to highly proliferative cells. In previous research, we evidenced an imbalance of purine metabolism in B-CLL cells. Since the extracellular adenosine has been proved to induce apoptosis via A2b receptor, enzymes involved in adenosine metabolism could play an important role in apoptosis resistance of B-CLL cells. We prepared a microarray chip for the analysis of 50 selected genes that could be of interest in B-CLL: enzymes of purine de-novo, salvage and catabolic pathway, oxidative stress enzymes, and apoptotis-related proteins. Preliminary results identify many genes of purine metabolism that exhibit low or high expression, while genes involved in signal transduction and apoptosis exhibit lower alterations even if of remarkable interest. This application of microarray technique seems promising and at least a subset of these genes will be valid candidates for further studies.