Cadherin-13 in primary and blast crisis chronic myeloid leukaemia: declining expression and negative correlation with the BCR/ABL fusion gene.

Expression of the CDH13 gene in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients at different clinical stages, and its relationship with the BCR/ABL fusion gene, is investigated. Expression of the CDH13 gene and the BCR/ABL fuse gene is investigated in peripheral blood from 30 healthy adults, 25 primary CML patients and 25 CML patients in blast crisis using the EvaGreen real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results showed that BCR/ABL fusion gene expression in the blast crisis CML patients was 4.72-fold higher than that in patients with primary CML. Expression of CDH13 mRNA in primary and blast crisis CML patients was lower than in the healthy adults, reduced 64% and 75%, respectively. Expression of CDH13 showed a negative correlation with the BCR/ABL fusion gene. The data indicate that the decline of CDH13 expression accompanied the different clinical stages of CML and probably was involved in over-expression of the BCR/ABL fusion gene.