The prognostic value of matrix metalloproteinase-7 and matrix metalloproteinase-15 in acute myeloid leukemia.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a family of zinc-dependent endopeptidases, are involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. We analyzed 11 data sets from Gene Expression Omnibus Database and found that MMP7 and MMP15 were highly expressed in multiple carcinomas. GSE13204 showed that MMP7 and MMP15 were overexpressed in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. The Cancer Genome Atlas data set exhibited that high expression of MMP7 or MMP15 in bone marrow (BM) of AML patients predicted poor overall survival. The χ 2 test results indicated that high expression level of MMP7 and MMP15 were correlated with high-risk stratification and high BM blast cell percentage in AML patients. To confirm these findings, we performed reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and found that MMP7 and MMP15 were highly expressed in three AML cell lines. Further study showed that MMP7 and MMP15 were highly expressed both in BM and peripheral blood in collected AML samples compared with healthy individuals. Additionally, long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) microarray of BM samples of AML patients revealed that multiple lncRNAs were correlated with MMP7 and MMP15, suggesting that lncRNAs might be involved in the pathogenesis of AML via modulating MMPs. In conclusion, our study uncovers the potential roles of MMP7 and MMP15 in the prognosis of AML.