Photo Credit: Nemes Laszlo
The following is a summary of “SPAG6 regulates cell proliferation and apoptosis via TGF-β/Smad signal pathway in adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia,” published in the December 2023 issue of Hematology by Zhao et al.
Despite poor prognosis in adult B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), sperm-associated antigen 6 (SPAG6), a cancer-testis antigen relevant in hematologic tumors, remains unexplored as a potential therapeutic target.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate SPAG6 expression in adult B-ALL patients, revealing its upregulation in the bone marrow and significant downregulation in patients achieving complete remission (CR) after treatment.
They analyzed adult B-ALL patients, comparing SPAG6 expression levels in bone marrow between patients and healthy donors and investigating associations with age, white blood cell count, and CR rate.
The results showed that patients exhibiting high SPAG6 expression were older (≥ 35 years; P = 0.015), had elevated white blood cell counts (WBC > 30 × 109/L; P=0.021), and a low complete remission rate (P=0.036). Examining SPAG6’s impact on cell function through lentiviral transfection of adult B-ALL cell lines BALL-1 and NALM-6 revealed that suppressing SPAG6 significantly impeded cell proliferation and enhanced apoptosis.
Investigators concluded that in B-ALL cell lines, reduced SPAG6 levels hinted at its regulation of proliferation and apoptosis through the TGF-β/Smad pathway.
Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12185-023-03684-x
