[Expression of ROBO3 and Its Effect on Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis in Pediatric Patients with Acute Myeloid...

To investigate the expression of ROBO3 in pediatric AML patients and explore its function on cell proliferation and apoptosis.

The expression of ROBO3 in pediatric AML patients at different treatment stage was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The relationship between the expression of ROBO3 and clinic pathological characteristics in newly diagnosed pediatric AML patients was analyzed. Moreover, the effects of ROBO3 on the proliferation and apoptosis of AML cell lines HL-60 and THP-1 were estimated by using CCK-8 and flow cytometry after transfection with ROBO3 siRNA.

It was found that ROBO3 expression was significantly increased in most of newly diagnosed pediatric AML patients, especially in non-M3 subtype, younger patients (<10 years old), and high risk group, compared to corresponding controls. Furthermore, the expression level of ROBO3 was sharply decreased in patients who achieved complete remission. Targeting ROBO3 significantly inhibited AML cell proliferation, as well as increased apoptosis by ROBO3 siRNA transfection in vitro.

ROBO3 is differentially expressed within distinct subtypes of the pediatric AML patients, which suggested that ROBO3 may be a potential biomarker and a new therapeutic target for pediatric AML.