Patensin-Induced Apoptosis is Accompanied by Decreased bcl-2 Expression and Telomerase Activity in HL-60 Cells

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of telomerase activity in patensin-induced apoptosis and the regulation of B cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (bcl-2) gene expression in human leukemia HL-60 cells. Apoptosis of HL-60 cells was induced by patensin (100 μmol L^-1) for 3, 6, 12 and 24 h. Apoptosis and bcl-2 were determined by flow cytometry analysis. A polymerase-chain-reaction-based telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay was used to detect the telomerase activity. Patensin induced growth arrest and apoptotic cell death in HL-60 cells. The telomerase activity was inhibited in a time-dependent manner during the patensin-induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells, and the expression of bcl-2 was progressively down-regulated by patensin. Inhibition of the telomerase activity of HL-60 cells was closely related to the patensin-induced apoptosis. The present results indicate that inhibition in telomerase and reduced bcl-2 gene expression may play a role in the patensin-induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells.

Keywords:

• Patensin
• Telomerase
• Apoptosis
• Bcl-2 gene
• HL-60 cell

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui province (No. 03043901) and the Natural Science Foundation of the Education Department of Anhui Province (No. 2002KJ312), to which the authors' thanks are due.