• ULK1 and its regulatory non-coding RNAs in drug resistance of multiple myeloma
  • Leila Sarafraznia,1 Mohammad Ali Jalalifar,2,* Dian Dayer,3 Nariman Ghanatir,4 Zari Tahan Nejad Asadi,5
    1. Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
    2. Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2. Thalassemia & Hemoglobinopathy Research center, Health research institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
    3. Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Medical Basic Sciences, Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
    4. Thalassemia & Hemoglobinopathy Research center, Health research institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
    5. 1. Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2. Thalassemia & Hemoglobinopathy Research center, Health research institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran


  • Introduction: Multiple myeloma is defined as the second most frequent Hematological malignancy which is associated with a wide range of drug resistance. One of the mechanisms of resistance is the development of protective autophagy. This study aims to compare the relative levels of expression of ULK1, LC3B, SQSTM1, miR-26a-5p, miR-1297, lnc MALAT1 and lnc SNHG6 between U266B1cell line and bortezomib resistant myeloma cells.
  • Methods: The U266B1 cell line and plasma cells which were obtained from bone marrow of refractory patients were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium under optimal conditions. The relative expression of genes was determined using the real-time PCR. Data were statistically analyzed using the GraphPad Prism 8 software.
  • Results: In resistant cells, the expression of ULK1, LC3B, SQSTM1, miR-1297, lnc MALAT1 and lnc SNHG6 increased significantly, whereas miR-26a-5p didn't change significantly.
  • Conclusion: Since the autophagy process plays a key role in the development and maintenance of drug resistance in myeloma, analyzing the expression of the genes involved in this system and their regulatory non-coding RNAs will aid in the discovery of potential cellular weaknesses and the management of drug resistance.
  • Keywords: multiple myeloma, drug resistance, ULK1, miR-26a-5p, miR-1297, lncMALAT1, lncSNHG6