Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effect of CAG regimen of recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor （rhG-CSF）+ cytarabine （Ara-C）+aclarubicin(ACR）on U937 cell line. Methods Leukemia cell line U937 was treated with rhG-CSF (50 ng/mL), Ara-C (10 nmol/L) and ACR (10 nmol/L) alone or jointly, and control group (without treatment by any of the drugs), Ara-C group, rhG-CSF group, ACR group, rhG-CSF+ACR group, Ara-C+ACR group, Ara-C+rhG-CSF group and Ara-C+rhG-CSF+ACR（CAG）group were established, respectively. Cell proliferation inhibition rates were calculated by cell count analyzer, and the expression of cell surface differentiation antigen CD11B, cell apoptosis rates and changes of cell cycle were determined by flow cytometry. Results In Ara-C group, Ara-C+ACR group, Ara-C+rhG-CSF group and CAG group, the percentages of cells in S phase were lower than that in control group 1 d after treatment. Two days after treatment, cell proliferation was significantly inhibited, the expression of CD11B significantly increased, and the expression of CD11B in CAG group was significantly higher than that in Ara-C group （P<0.05）. Partial differentiation of cells was observed 6 d after treatment, with significant cell differentiation characteristics in CAG group. There was no significant difference in cell apoptosis rate among each group （P>0.05）. Conclusion CAG regimen could induce differentiation of U937 cells in a time-dependent manner.

Key words: acute myeloid leukemia, CAG regimen, cell differentiation, cell growth, cell apoptosis