Axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells

Acute myeloid leukemia is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults, constituting about 80% of cases. Although remarkable progress has been made in the therapeutic scenario for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, research and development of new and effective anticancer agents to improve pat...

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Main Authors: Sherif Suleiman, Riccardo Di Fiore, Analisse Cassar, Melissa Marie Formosa, Pierre Schembri-Wismayer, Jean Calleja-Agius
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2020-09-01
Series:Tumor Biology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/1010428320954735
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author Sherif Suleiman
Riccardo Di Fiore
Analisse Cassar
Melissa Marie Formosa
Pierre Schembri-Wismayer
Jean Calleja-Agius
author_facet Sherif Suleiman
Riccardo Di Fiore
Analisse Cassar
Melissa Marie Formosa
Pierre Schembri-Wismayer
Jean Calleja-Agius
author_sort Sherif Suleiman
collection DOAJ
description Acute myeloid leukemia is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults, constituting about 80% of cases. Although remarkable progress has been made in the therapeutic scenario for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, research and development of new and effective anticancer agents to improve patient outcome and minimize toxicity is needed. In this study, the antitumor activity of axolotl (AXO) Ambystoma mexicanum crude extract was assessed in vitro on the human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cell line. The anticancer activity was evaluated in terms of ability to influence proliferative activity, cell viability, cell cycle arrest, and differentiation. Moreover, gene expression analysis was performed to evaluate the genes involved in the regulation of these processes. The AXO crude extract exhibited antiproliferative but not cytotoxic activities on HL-60 cells, with cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, the AXO-treated HL-60 cells showed an increase in both the percentage of nitroblue tetrazolium positive cells and the expression of CD11b, whereas the proportion of CD14-positive cells did not change, suggesting that extract is able to induce differentiation toward the granulocytic lineage. Finally, the treatment with AXO extract caused upregulation of CEBPA, CEBPB, CEBPE, SPI1, CDKN1A , and CDKN2C , and downregulation of c-MYC . Our data clearly show the potential anticancer activity of Ambystoma mexicanum on HL-60 cells and suggest that it could help develop promising therapeutic agents for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.
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spelling doaj-art-e601f453af054dc58b7c7dd0a69382e62025-08-20T03:38:44ZengSAGE PublishingTumor Biology1423-03802020-09-014210.1177/1010428320954735Axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cellsSherif Suleiman0Riccardo Di Fiore1Analisse Cassar2Melissa Marie Formosa3Pierre Schembri-Wismayer4Jean Calleja-Agius5Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, MaltaSbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Center for Biotechnology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USADepartment of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, MaltaDepartment of Applied Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Msida, MaltaDepartment of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, MaltaDepartment of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, MaltaAcute myeloid leukemia is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults, constituting about 80% of cases. Although remarkable progress has been made in the therapeutic scenario for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, research and development of new and effective anticancer agents to improve patient outcome and minimize toxicity is needed. In this study, the antitumor activity of axolotl (AXO) Ambystoma mexicanum crude extract was assessed in vitro on the human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cell line. The anticancer activity was evaluated in terms of ability to influence proliferative activity, cell viability, cell cycle arrest, and differentiation. Moreover, gene expression analysis was performed to evaluate the genes involved in the regulation of these processes. The AXO crude extract exhibited antiproliferative but not cytotoxic activities on HL-60 cells, with cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, the AXO-treated HL-60 cells showed an increase in both the percentage of nitroblue tetrazolium positive cells and the expression of CD11b, whereas the proportion of CD14-positive cells did not change, suggesting that extract is able to induce differentiation toward the granulocytic lineage. Finally, the treatment with AXO extract caused upregulation of CEBPA, CEBPB, CEBPE, SPI1, CDKN1A , and CDKN2C , and downregulation of c-MYC . Our data clearly show the potential anticancer activity of Ambystoma mexicanum on HL-60 cells and suggest that it could help develop promising therapeutic agents for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.https://doi.org/10.1177/1010428320954735
spellingShingle Sherif Suleiman
Riccardo Di Fiore
Analisse Cassar
Melissa Marie Formosa
Pierre Schembri-Wismayer
Jean Calleja-Agius
Axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells
Tumor Biology
title Axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells
title_full Axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells
title_fullStr Axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells
title_full_unstemmed Axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells
title_short Axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells
title_sort axolotl extract induces cell cycle arrest and differentiation in human acute myeloid leukemia hl 60 cells
url https://doi.org/10.1177/1010428320954735
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