Non-canonical NF-κB Plays a Pivotal Role in Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Abstract

This study tried to dissect BAFF/BAFF-R-mediated non-canonical NF-κB signaling in the drug resistance of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. FQ-PCR was employ to determine the mRNA expression of BAFF, BAFF-R, Bcl-xL, and RIPK2 in the circulating blood of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients. Further correlation studies were performed with the gene expression in the circulating blood and tumor tissue. MTT assay as used to determine BAFF's role on lymphoma cell proliferation. Western blot was employed to determine protein expression after BAFF stimulation. The mRNA expression of BAFF, BAFF-R, Bcl-xL, and RIPK2 in the circulating blood of the resistant group was higher than that of the non-resistant group, which was statistically significant. The mRNA expression of the target genes was positively correlated. The mRNA expression was positively correlated with disease progression, which was statistically significant. The Bcl-xL mRNA expression in the resistant group was relatively higher than that in the non-resistant group, which was also statistically significant. However, the mRNA expression of other genes only showed increased tendency compared with non-resistant group. There was no significant change between target genes in different tumor tissues. With increased BAFF concentration and prolonged exposure, the proliferation of the tumor cells increased significantly, which was statistically significant. Western blot showed the expression of BAFF, BAFF-R, Bcl-xL, and RIPK2 all increased with increased BAFF concentration, which was also statistically significant. In B-cell, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, BAFF may activate non-canonical NF-κB signaling to regulate drug resistance.