Objective: To evaluate the clinical significance of telomerase in multiple myeloma (MM) and explore its relationship with cell cycle.
Methods: Marrow plasma cells were collected form 21 patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed MM, 2 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), 15 MM patients in complete remission and 10 donors as control. PC isolation from the marrow mononuclear cell fraction was performed using immunomagnetic bead selection with CD(138) antibodies. Telomerase activity was detected with TRAP (Telomerase repeats amplification protocol)-fluorescence. Cell cycle was assayed by flow cytometry.
Results: (1) The results showed that the positive rate of telomerase in all the newly diagnosed and relapsed patients was 90.5%, which was higher than that in the control group (10.0%) and the patients in remission (13.3%) (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference between the patients in remission and control group (P > 0.05), as well as between newly diagnosed and relapsed patients (P > 0.05). (2) The average percentage of S period in the telomerase positive patients was (18.78 +/- 8.02)%, while that in the negative patients was (5.64 +/- 4.03)%; there was statistics difference between them (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: (1) Telomerase plays an important role in the development of MM, it may be used to evaluate disease progression, therapeutic curative effect and prognosis; (2) Telomerase activity is expressed in the proliferation period of MM cells. Telomerase activity is correlated with cell cycle.