Transcriptome analysis of coding and ncRNA isoforms in monocytes and macrophages purified from bone marrow of xenotransplanted mice during leukemia progression.

Immune cells of the myeloid lineage and CLL cells support each other during leukemia progression and dissemination. We have investigated the molecular interactions supporting this cell-cell interdependence with a special focus on ncRNAs and microRNAs, whose role in nonmalignant monocytes and macrophages is largely unknown. In the CLL xenograft model based on the engraftment of MEC1 human CLL cell line into Rag2-/-γc-/-, we analyzed the transcriptome of monocytes/macrophages isolated from the bone marrow during leukemia progression. We found a significant enrichment of both upregulated and downregulated ncRNAs including miRNAs and long ncRNAs. These findings corroborate the hypothesis that ncRNA have a role in the protumor function of nonmalignant immune cells during leukemia progression. Rag2-/-γc-/- were injected intravenously with MEC1 cells and sacrificed at early and late stage of leukemia with age-matched wt Rag2-/-γc-/- mice (n=3/group). RNA was isolated from bone marrow murine monocytes/macrophages purified by magnetic separation and processed for mouse GeneChip Clariom D (Mouse Transcriptome 1.0) hybridization assay.