Abstract:

[Abstract] Objective  To investigate the effect of demethylation agent decitabine (DCA) and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on proliferation and differentiation of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cell line HL-60. Methods  HL-60 cells were co-cultured with different concentrations of DCA and/or ATRA. The proliferation activity was detected by MTT assay in HL-60 cells. The differentiation ability of HL-60 cells was observed by nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction test and flow cytometry. Results  The proliferation of HL-60 cells was inhibited by DCA and ATRA in a dose and time dependent manner (P < 0.01). The concentration of 3.2 mmol·L-1 DCA combined with 1×10-6 mol·L-1 ATRA showed a more obvious inhibition on proliferation of HL-60 cells compared with that of DAC or ATRA alone (P < 0.05). Both DCA and ATRA could promote differentiation of HL-60 cells. The strongest ability in promoting differentiation was found in 3.2 mmol·L-1 DCA group and 1× 10-6 mol·L-1 ATRA group.The combination of DCA and ATRA had synergistic effect. Conclusion  Both DCA and ATRA can inhibit the proliferation and promote the differentiation of HL-60 cells, and the combination of DCA and ATRA had synergis? tic effect.

Key words: Decitabine, all-trans retinoic acid, HL-60 cell line, acute promyelocytic leukemia