Combination of auraptene and arsenic trioxide induces apoptosis and cellular accumulation in the subG1 phase in adult T-cell leukemia cells

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Immunology Research Center, Inflammation and inflammatory Diseases Division, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

2 Department of Hematology and Blood Bank, Tabas School of Nursing, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

3 Department of Pharmacognosy and Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

4 Blood Borne Infections Research Center, Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan, Mashhad, Iran

5 Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Group, Institute of Biotechnology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Objective(s): Despite advances in the treatment of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), the survival rate of this malignancy remains significantly low. Auraptene (AUR) is a natural coumarin with broad-spectrum anticancer activities. To introduce a more effective therapeutic strategy for ATLL, we investigated the combinatorial effects of AUR and arsenic trioxide (ATO) on MT-2 cells.
Materials and Methods: The cells were treated with different concentrations of AUR for 24, 48, and 72 hr, and viability was measured by alamarBlue assay. Then, the combination of AUR (20 μg/ml) and ATO (3 μg/ml) was administrated and the cell cycle was analyzed by PI staining followed by flow cytometry analysis. In addition, the expression of NF-κB (REL-A), CD44, c-MYC, and BMI-1 was evaluated via qPCR.
Results: Assessment of cell viability revealed increased toxicity of AUR and ATO when used in combination. Our findings were confirmed by accumulation of cells in the sub G1 phase of the cell cycle and significant down-regulation of NF-κB (REL-A), CD44, c-MYC, and BMI-1.
Conclusion: Obtained findings suggest that combinatorial use of AUR and ATO could be considered for designing novel chemotherapy regimens for ATLL.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences
Volume 24, Issue 12
December 2021
Pages 1643-1649

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