Objective:To investigate the expressions of developmental related genes and their relationship with clinical features and prognosis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL).Methods:The mRNA expressions of Notch1

Wnt3a and β-catenin genes were detected by quantitative real-time RT-PCR in bone marrow mononuclear cells from 125 patients with newly diagnosed childhood ALL(ALL group)

and analyzed the correlation to clinical characteristics(age

gender

WBC count

FAB classification

immunophenotype and clinical risk stratification).Twenty sex-and age-matched patients without malignant hematological diseases enrolled in this study as the control group.Results:The mRNA expressions of Notch1

Wnt3a and β-catenin were detected in all the bone marrow samples of childhood ALLs and control patients.Compared with the control group

mRNA expressions of Notch1 gene were remarkably lower(P< 0.05)

but the expressions of β-catenin gene were much higher(P<0.05)in ALL group.However

expressions of Wnt3a mRNA had no significant difference between ALL and control group(P>0.05).The expressions of Notch1 gene were higher in T-ALL than control group(P<0.05)

and were lower in B-ALL than control group(P<0.05).In addition

the high expressions of β-catenin gene were significantly associated with age(<1 or >10 years)and higher leukocyte count(≥50×109/L)(P<0.05)

and were not associated with either of gender

FAB classification

immunophenotype and clinical risk stratification(P>0.05).Conclusion:The abnormal expressions of Notch1 and β-catenin in childhood ALL might play an important role in the pathogenesis of childhood ALL.The high expressions of β-catenin gene might be associated with poor prognosis in childhood ALL.Examination of Notch1 and β-catenin mRNA might be a new target for diagnosis and treatment of childhood ALL.