ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The purpose of this study was to research the effects of genistein on telomerase activity and apoptosis in an acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60).

MATERIAL and METHODS

In HL-60 cells, the cytotoxic effect of commercially available genistein was evaluated by the XTT method. The XTT method is a Cell Proliferation Assay. The Annexin V-EGFP method was used to determine apoptosis. The human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is a marker of telomerase activity. hTERT gene expression analysis was performed by LightCycler real-time RT-PCR.

RESULTS

In HL-60 cells, the IC50 of genistein was found to be 50 μM at 72 hours. It was observed that the induction of apoptosis was 4.25-fold higher compared to the genistein untreated cells used as the control group. Compared to the control group, hTERT activity was found to decrease by 5.16, 3.81 and 5.04-fold at 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells by the reduction of human telomerase reverse transcriptase activity may be a beneficial parameter in leukemia patients.