9-(2-Phosphonyl-methoxyethyl)-adenine promotes erythrocytic differentiation and disrupts cell replication in chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells
Author
Faculty Advisor
Date
2021
Keywords
cancer treatment, differentiation therapies
Abstract (summary)
Disruption during cellular differentiation can cause hematopoietic stem cells to proliferate
uncontrollably, resulting in the development of cancer. Differentiation therapies are being investigated as
a type of cancer treatment which involve inducing agents that promote the differentiation of cancer cells
into those with similar properties to normal blood cells. These cells can then undergo apoptosis at an
accelerated and controlled rate compared to cancer cells, making this a potential therapeutic technique. In
this study, the ability of human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells to undergo cellular
differentiation in response to the inducing agent 9-(2-Phosphonyl-methoxy ethyl)-adenine (PMEA) is
investigated. PMEA has previously been shown to disrupt cell replication, and promote erythrocytic
differentiation in K562 cells. In order to further test the effectiveness of this inducer, cell proliferation
was measured with a cell growth curve, hemoglobin presence was measured with benzidine staining, and
gamma-globin expression (a protein subunit of fetal hemoglobin) was measured in both induced and
uninduced K562 cell cultures via RT-qPCR and western blotting. The results indicate that PMEA slows
cell replication, and promotes hemoglobin (and subsequently gamma-globin) expression in treated cells.
In summary, the findings support the conclusion that PMEA is able to promote erythrocytic
differentiation in K562 cells, and provides information that supports differentiation therapies as a method
for cancer treatment.
Publication Information
DOI
Notes
Presented virtually at: Student Research Day (April 26, 2021, MacEwan University, Edmonton), Undergraduate Research in Science Conference of Alberta ( May 3-4, 2021, Concordia University, Edmonton), National Undergraduate Genetics Symposium (first place, poster presentations) (May1-2, 2021), and the Richard E. Peter Biology Conference (third place) (March 1-5, 2021, University of Alberta, Edmonton).
Item Type
Student Presentation
Language
English
Rights
All Rights Reserved