PKR is activated in MDS patients and its subcellular localization depends on disease severity.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of hematological disorders characterized by progressive cytopenia and increased tendency of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) transformation.1 While the majority of patients are diagnosed with low-grade disease, approximately two-thirds will succumb to complications of peripheral blood cytopenia or progression into AML. That is why the phenotype of high risk MDS has often been associated with some AML features. However, a unique aspect of MDS is the notion that both bone marrow failure and the propensity towards development of AML coexist. As both properties contribute to peripheral blood cytopenia and the natural history of the disease, it is thought that proliferative advantages lend themselves more to leukemic transformation, while initially accelerated apoptosis is responsible for the cytopenia........