RNA-sequencing technology is progressively being applied in various fields since high-throughput data analysis provides deeper mining on both the genomic and transcriptomic level. Lymphoblastic leukemogenesis is a complex process caused by abnormalities occurring during lymphocyte differentiation, and can be initiated by various triggers. Each
leukemia subtype has distinct characteristics that can be identified in the corresponding cell lines; the detection of the exclusive genetic signatures of these varying cell lines is critical. Our analysis revealed that approximately 8000 human genes were differentially expressed between samples. Signaling pathways such as the NOD-like signaling pathway,
cell surface receptor signaling pathways, and
leukemia-related pathways were significantly regulated, as determined by KEGG annotation. Furthermore, several oncogenes and differentiation-related genes were differentially expressed between
leukemia cell lines and lymphocyte types, respectively. Our
miRNA analysis demonstrated that the expression of approximately one-third of all expressed
miRNAs appeared to be significantly different between the
leukemia cell lines studied. We also analyzed the
mRNA-
miRNA regulatory networks of both lymphocyte differentiation and leukemogenesis to determine key regulators of interest. We combined the results of the
mRNA and
miRNA analyses in order to investigate the regulatory relationship between them. This study not only identifies differences in the pathways and networks of
acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) relative to normal lymphocytes, but also identifies unique functional characteristics of lymphoid cells and distinct gene expression patterns during lymphoid development. The discovery of
leukemia-related
miRNAs may provide meaningful insights into the biology of the disease.