title: [Study on the differentiation and apoptosis of promyelocytic leukemia cells induced by tributyrin].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the differentiation of NB4 and MR2 cells induced by tributyrin (TB) in combination with different doses of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and to see if TB can induce apoptosis of NB4 and MR2 cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cell differentiation was analyzed by NBT reduction and CD(11b), CD(14) and CD(33), apoptosis by morphology, DNA electrophoresis, flow cytometry (FCM) and TUNEL in situ hybridization, bcl-2 expression by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  0.2 mmol/L TB in combination with different doses of ATRA could potentiate the differentiation of NB4 cells induced by ATRA alone. No MR2 cell could be markedly induced by ATRA alone or in combination with TB. Treated with 1 mmol/L TB for 24 hours NB4 and MR2 cells exhibited a morphological characteristic of apoptosis and typical DNA ladder on gel electrophoresis. FCM analysis showed that TB could interfere with cell cycle in NB4 and MR2 cells, with a similar ratio of sub-G(1) in both cell lines. TUNEL in situ hybridization confirmed these results. Further study showed that TB could gradually down-regulated bcl-2 expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TB exerts synergetic effect on ATRA-induced differentiation and induces apoptosis in promyelocytic leukemic cells.
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou Medical College, Jiangsu Institute of Hematology, Suzhou 215006, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D015473:Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D014212:Tretinoin; C005830:tributyrin