Absolute qPCR for measuring telomere length in bone marrow samples of plasma cell disorders

JULIETA PANERO; NATHAN J. OCALLAGHAN; MICHAEL FENECH; IRMA SLAVUTSKY

MOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY

HUMANA PRESS INC

Lugar: Oregon; Año: 2015 vol. 57 p. 155 - 159

1073-6085

Telomere length (TL) is currently used as an emerging biomarker in understanding the development/progression of hematological malignancies. The absolute quantitative PCR (qPCR) methodology has allowed the study of TL from a variety of mammalian tissues, but it has not been tested for bone marrow (BM) samples. In this study we have examined the relationship between TL data generated by absolute qPCR versus those obtained by TRF (terminal restriction fragments) in 102 BM samples: 54 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and 48 with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance. A good linear correlation between both methodologies was observed (p<0.0001; r2=0.70). The regression formula was used to convert the qPCR TL values (kb per diploid genome) into the equivalent TRF (kb). A general decrease in TL in MM compared to MGUS was observed, without significant differences between entities. In MM, correlation analysis between TL and clinical characteristics showed significant differences for B2 microglobulin and hemoglobin levels (p<0.01), both parameters related to adverse prognosis in this pathology. Furthermore, another set of 47 BM samples from patients with low quantity of DNA for TRF assay were suitably analyzed, confirming the usefulness of absolute qPCR technique for the inclusion of patients with scarce material to the study. Taken together, these findings are of interest considering the importance of telomere dysfunction in the pathogenesis of cancer and give a new alternative to measure TL in hematologic disorders with substantial time and cost savings.