Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023418 (leukemia)
 93,477 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To study the yet unknown role of the ubiquitous family of cholinesterases (ChoEases) in developing blood cells, the recently isolated cDNAs encoding human acetylcholinesterase (AcChoEase; acetylcholine acetylhydrolase, EC 3.1.1.7) and butyrylcholinesterase (BtChoEase; cholinesterase; acylcholine acylhydrolase, EC 3.1.1.8) were used in blot hybridization with peripheral blood DNA from various leukemic patients. Hybridization signals (10- to 200-fold intensified) and modified restriction patterns were observed with both cDNA probes in 4 of the 16 leukemia DNA preparations examined. These reflected the amplification of the corresponding AcChoEase and BtChoEase genes (ACHE and CHE) and alteration in their structure. Parallel analysis of 30 control samples revealed nonpolymorphic, much weaker hybridization signals for each of the probes. In view of previous reports on the effect of acetylcholine analogs and ChoEase inhibitors in the induction of megakaryocytopoiesis and production of platelets in the mouse, we further searched for such phenomena in nonleukemic patients with platelet production disorders. Amplifications of both ACHE and CHE genes were found in 2 of the 4 patients so far examined. Pronounced coamplification of these two related but distinct genes in correlation with pathological production of blood cells suggests a functional role for members of the ChoEase family in megakaryocytopoiesis and raises the question whether the coamplification of these genes could be causally involved in the etiology of hemocytopoietic disorders.
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PMID:Coamplification of human acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase genes in blood cells: correlation with various leukemias and abnormal megakaryocytopoiesis. 273 15

To examine the role of acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) in hematopoietic cell proliferation and differentiation, we administered a 15-mer phosphorothioate oligonucleotide, antisense to the corresponding ACHE gene (AS-ACHE), to primary mouse bone marrow cultures. Within 2 hr of AS-ACHE addition to the culture, ACHE mRNA levels dropped by approximately 90%, as compared with those in cells treated with the "sense" oligomer, S-ACHE. Four days after AS-ACHE treatment, ACHE mRNA increased to levels 10-fold higher than in S-ACHE cultures or in fresh bone marrow. At this later time point, differential PCR display revealed significant differences between cellular mRNA transcripts in bone marrow and those in AS-ACHE- or S-ACHE-treated cultures. These oligonucleotide-triggered effects underlay considerable alterations at the cellular level: AS-ACHE but not S-ACHE increased cell counts, reflecting enhanced proliferation. In the presence of erythropoietin it also enhanced colony counts, reflecting expansion of progenitors. AS-ACHE further suppressed apoptosis-related fragmentation of cellular DNA in the progeny cells, and it diverted hematopoiesis toward production of primitive blasts and macrophages in a dose-dependent manner promoted by erythropoietin. These findings suggest that the hematopoietic role of acetylcholinesterase, anticipated to be inverse to the observed antisense effects, is to reduce proliferation of the multipotent stem cells committed to erythropoiesis and megakaryocytopoiesis and macrophage production and to promote apoptosis in their progeny. Moreover, these findings may explain the tumorigenic association of perturbations in ACHE gene expression with leukemia.
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PMID:Antisense oligonucleotide inhibition of acetylcholinesterase gene expression induces progenitor cell expansion and suppresses hematopoietic apoptosis ex vivo. 805 33