title: Chemosensitization of human leukemia K562 cells to taxol by a Vanadium-salen complex.
abstract: Vanadium complexes are a heterogeneous class of compounds exhibiting interesting biological properties. Herein, we report the effect of a vanadium-salen complex (VO-salen) on proliferative behavior of K562 cell line. The results revealed that VO-salen at 6-32 μM inhibited K562 proliferation with no distinct alteration in cell morphology, extent of apoptosis and/or differentiation. Our results indicated that VO-salen complex has just a cytostatic effect and capable of arresting the affected cells in G2/M phase of cell cycle. In addition, we evaluated the combined effects of VO-salen complex and taxol. The cell cycle analyses showed that VO-salen complex enhanced taxol-induced G2/M arrest and also increased taxol-induced apoptosis through a decrease in the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax which might account for the decrease in the apoptosis threshold among the affected cells. These findings support that combination of VO-salen, as a chemosensitizer, and taxol might constitute an affective new strategy for leukemia therapy.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, P. O. Box 13145-1384, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Azadeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meshkini
authors.forename: Razieh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yazdanparast
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002469:Cell Separation; D005029:Ethylenediamines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D020014:K562 Cells; D007938:Leukemia / Q000473:pathology*; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017968:Vanadium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D005029:Ethylenediamines; D017968:Vanadium Compounds; C011452:disalicylaldehyde ethylenediamine; D017239:Paclitaxel