Expression of the testis-specific gene, TSGA10, in Iranian patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Testis-specific gene antigen (TSGA10) is expressed in fetus, testis and frequently in human solid cancers and acute leukemias, making it a candidate for immunotherapy and for detection of minimal residual disease (MRD). This gene is considered as a member of cancer-testis (CT) genes. We previously demonstrated TSGA10 expression during spermatogenesis. There is also evidence for potential TSGA10 involvement in cell proliferation. TSGA10 expression has been observed in a wide spectrum of cancers but not in hematopoietic neoplasm. Here we demonstrated expression of TSGA10 by semi-quantitative RT-PCR in 44 (84.6%) out of 52 bone marrow samples and all peripheral blood samples from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Twenty-seven (52%) cases had high level of gene expression and 16 (30.7%) cases had a lower expression level of the gene in the patients bone marrow. Presence of TSGA10 expression in ALL may open a window to functional study of mitotic checkpoint proteins in leukemia. RT-PCR of TSGA10 may help in detection of residual clonal cells leading to early diagnosis and better prognostic qualification of the disease.