title: Myogenic differentiation of human rhabdomyosarcoma cells induced in vitro by antineoplastic drugs.
abstract: The effect of various antineoplastic drugs (1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, 5-azacytidine, cisplatin, dactinomycin, epirubicin, vincristine, and the activated metabolite of cyclophosphamide, mafosfamide) on cell differentiation in vitro was investigated using a human alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cell clone, RMZ-RC2. These cells are able to differentiate spontaneously from small mononuclear proliferating elements to terminal, extremely elongated multinuclear structures resembling myotubes; morphological differentiation is accompanied by the expression of myosins, in particular the embryonic isoform, which was used in this study as a specific marker of myogenic differentiation. The proportion of differentiated myosin-positive cells, which was around 10-15% in control cultures 10-15 days after seeding, was increased by some drug treatments up to 30-40%; the proportion of multinuclear elements was also increased. 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine and 5-azacytidine were the most effective drugs, while dactinomycin had no effect; other molecules ranked in between. Since significant increments were usually observed after treatment with drug doses inhibiting cell growth, the kinetic behavior of the absolute number of myosin-positive cells or nuclei was analyzed to assess whether some effects could be due to a negative selection of proliferating, undifferentiated cells. This appeared to be the case for vincristine and epirubicin, while 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, 5-azacytidine, and, to a lesser degree, mafosfamide and cisplatin actually seemed to increase differentiation ability.
authors: Istituto di Cancerologia, Bologna, Italy.
authors: P L
authors: PL
authors: Lollini
authors: C
authors: C
authors: De Giovanni
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Del Re
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Landuzzi
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Nicoletti
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Prodi
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Scotlandi
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Nanni
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001374:Azacitidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002459:Cell Fusion; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000494:pharmacology; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000494:pharmacology; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology*; D009218:Myosins / Q000378:metabolism; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000473:pathology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D003561:Cytarabine; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D009218:Myosins; D001374:Azacitidine; D002945:Cisplatin