Changes in the MALT1-A20-NF-κB expression pattern may be related to T cell dysfunction in AML.

To elucidate the characteristics of T-cell receptor (TCR) signal transduction in T-cells from acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the mucosa-associated-lymphoid-tissue lymphoma-translocation gene 1 (MALT1), A20, NF-κB and MALT1-V1 gene expression levels in CD3+ T cells sorted from the peripheral blood of patients with AML were analyzed by real-time PCR. A significantly lower MALT1 and A20 expression level was found in T cells from patients with AML compared with healthy controls (p = 0.045, p < 0.0001); however, the expression level of MALT1-V1 (variant 1) was significantly higher in the AML group than in the healthy control group (p = 0.006), and the expression level of NF-κB was increased in the AML group. In conclusion, the characteristics of the expression pattern of MALT1-A20-NF-κB and the distribution of MALT1 variants in T cells from AML were first characterized. Overall, low TCR-CD3 signaling is related to low MALT1 expression, which may related to T cell immunodeficiency, while the up-regulation of MALT1-V1 may play a role in overcoming the T cell activity by downregulating A20 in patients with AML, which may be related to a specific response to AML-associated antigens.