SOX7 expression could be induced by DNA demethylation. (A) SOX7 transcript expression induced by DNA demethylating agent 5-AdC in AML cell lines KG1, ML2, and K562. Cells were treated with vehicle (control) or 5-AdC for 96 hours, and SOX7 expression in vehicle was arbitrarily set as 1. (B) SOX7 expression in KG-1 cells treated with 5-AdC was evaluated every 24 hours by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. SOX7 expression at 0 hours was normalized to 1 (top). Upregulation of SOX7 expression was temporally correlated with its promoter demethylation as shown by MS-PCR (bottom). (C) SOX7 transcript expression induced by 5-AdC in 5 primary AML samples. (D) 5-AdC induced SOX7 protein in 4 primary AML samples. The intensity ratios of SOX7 to β-actin (normalized to the vehicle control) are indicated above the western blot image.