Figure 2.

Messenger RNA expression of HES-1 and c-MYC in CTX-treated CLL cells cultured alone or in the presence of stromal HESS-5 cells. (A) Amplification and detection were performed by semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Primary CLL cells exhibited inhibition of HES-1 and c-MYC expression following CTX treatment, which was recovered in the presence of the stromal HESS-5 cell monolayer. A representative graph of three independent experiments is presented. (B) HES-1 and c-MYC expression levels were determined following different treatments, and normalized to ß₂-MG (%). The results revealed higher HES-1 and c-MYC expression in primary CLL cells co-cultured with HESS-5 cells compared with that observed in primary CLL cells cultured in the absence of HESS-5 cells following CTX exposure (*,^#P<0.05 vs. the CTX group). Data are shown as the mean + standard error of the mean, and are representative of three independent experiments. HES-1, Hes family BHLH transcription factor 1; CTX, cyclophosphamide; ß₂-MG, ß₂-microglobulin; CLL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia.