Heterogenous response of primary cultured bone marrow cells of patients with different varieties of leukemia to differentiation inducers
Chen, Z.X.; Wang, W.; Wu, W.L.
Chinese Medical Journal 102(3): 174-182
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0366-6999 PMID: 2503303 Document Number: 336974
The in vitro induced differentiation of a number of human leukemia cell lines by chemical inducers not only provides a valuable model system for the study on the mechanism of hematopoietic cell proliferation and differentiation at both cellular and molecular levels, but also cellular and molecular levels, but also reveals a new prospect in the treatment of leukemia. In order to find out the possibility of applying inducing agents to the patients with various types of leukemia, the bone marrow cells in primary culture from 50 patients with leukemia were tested for their inducibility in response to the inducers. Only M3 leukemia bone marrow cells can be markedly induced by retinoic acid to the myeloid terminal cells with positive NBT reduction while the cells of other types respond with uncertainity. TPA is able to cause a macrophage-like differentiation in bone marrow cells of all types of leukemia except M1. However, the lukemic cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia in lymphocytic blast crisis will lose response to TPA. The cultured bone marrow cells of acute lymphocytic leukemia respond neither to retinoic acid nor to TPA. Homoharringtonine, a chemotherapeutic drug used in the so-called HOAP regimen for acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, seems to possess the capability of inducing HL-60, the promyelocytic leukemia cell line, to NBT positive myeloid terminal cells, although the inducing effects is weaker than retinoic acid.