Tumor Promoters Inhibit Spontaneous Differentiation of Friend Erythroleukemia Cells in Culture

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 74; no. 7; pp. 2894 - 2898
• Main Authors: Rovera, Giovanni, O'Brien, Thomas G., Diamond, Leila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01.07.1977; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Animals; Carcinogens; Cell Differentiation - drug effects; Cell Division - drug effects; Cell Line; Cell lines; Cells; Cellular differentiation; Cultured cells; Globins - biosynthesis; Hemoglobins; Hemoglobins - biosynthesis; Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute - metabolism; Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute - pathology; Leukemia, Experimental - metabolism; Leukemia, Experimental - pathology; Phorbol esters; Phorbol Esters - pharmacology; Phorbols; Phorbols - pharmacology; Stem cells; Time Factors
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.74.7.2894
• ISSN: 0027-8424

Clones of Friend erythroleukemia cells, characterized by the presence of 40-70% benzidine-positive cells synthesizing hemoglobin in the absence of inducing drugs, were treated with several phorbol diesters with a known range of tumor-promoting activity on mouse skin. Good correlation was found between the reported tumor-promoting activity of a particular phorbol diester and its ability to inhibit spontaneous erythroid differentiation in culture. The inhibition of differentiation by 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate, the most active tumor promoter, was maximum after 4 days of treatment; this inhibition was reversed by removal of the phorbol diester no matter how long the period of treatment. Unlike control cells, which gradually revert to a population with a low percentage of benzidine-positive cells, cells treated with 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate retained a high potential for spontaneous differentiation.