Effects of gossypol acetic acid on apoptosis and differentiation in leukemia HLª²60 cells

    WANG Wenª²Qing, HUANG Gaoª²Sheng, LIANG Rong, ZHANG Weiª²Ping, WANG Juanª²Hong, WANG Zhe, LI Yuanª²Fei, BAI Qingª²Xian, CHEN Xieª²Qun

    Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Department of Hematology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To investigate the effects of gossypol acetic acid(GAA) on apoptosis and differentiation in classic human actue promylocytic leukemia cell line HLª²60 and study the possibility to treat leukemia with it. METHODS: The cytotoxic activity of GAA on HLª²60 cells was detected by means of MTT assay. Apoptosis was identified and analyzed with the help of transmission electron microscopy, cell cycle, and DNA gel electrophoresis, etc. The differentiation of HLª²60 cells into more mature granulocytes was detected by nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction test. RESULTS: More than 6 ¦Ìmol/L GAA could suppress the proliferation and induce the apoptosis in HLª²60 cells in a doseª²dependent manner. NBT reduction test demonstrated that HLª²60 cells could also be induced to differentiate into more mature granulocytes by lowª²dose GAA (1, 4 ¦Ìmol/L, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: GAA could selectively induce the apoptosis of leukemia HLª²60 cells in a smaller dose than that for human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which suggests that it may be an ideal drug for leukemia therapy. ......