Abstract

Appropriately stimulated, leukemic cells can be made to differentiate suggesting new approaches to cancdr treatment. We tried various inducers to leukemic cell lines, Ml originated from mouse myeloid leukemia and U 937 originated from human histiocytic lymphoma. Induction of differentia- tion was initiated by adding cyclosporin A(CSA), bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), retinoic acid (RA) and phorbol l2-mvristate 13-acetate(PMA) to M1 and U-937 cells growing in defined mediunm. Cell growth and differentiation markers such as reduction of nitro blue tetrazolium(NBT) dye, Fc receptor expression and cell adhesion were observed. CSA and LPS stimulated differentiation and growth inhibition of Ml cells. RA and PMA stimulated differentiation and growth inhibition of U-937 cells. Tamoxifen (TMF), protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, inhibited the differentiation of U-937 cells induced to differentiate by PMA. This result suggests that PKC is an important enzyme in the differentiation of U-937 cells.

• Keywords: Cell differentiation, Inducer, Protein Kinase C