Objective: Our aim is to detect the expression profile ofNK ligands in acute leukemia cell lines and investigate the differential expression pattern between acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).Methods: Using β-actin as reference gene, we detected 23 NK ligands (MICA, MICB, ULBP-1, ULBP-2, ULBP-3,ULBP-4, HLA-E, HLA-F, HLA-G, LLT-1, CD48, NBTA, CD80, PVR, CD72, ICAM-1, LFA-3, CD112, CRACC,Fas, DR4, DR5, TNFR1) in 6 acute leukemia cell lines respectively by relative quantitative real-time PCR, including 3 ALL cell lines (CEM, Jurkat T, Reh) and 3 AML cell lines (HL-60, KG1-a, NB4).Results Using CEM as reference cell, the relative expression results showed that the expression of 4 NK ligands between ALL and AML is significantly different.Specifically, the level of ULBP-2 is higher in ALL while that of CD48, PVR and DR4 is higher in AML.Conclusions Our study preliminary show that ULBP-2, CD48, PVR and DR4 may play an important role in the distinct mechanisms of leukemogenesis between ALL and AML and could be potential markers for diagnosis and treatment.