Silencing of suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 due to methylation results in phosphorylation of STAT3 in imatinib resistant BCR-ABL positive chronic myeloid leukemia cells.

Background: Silencing due to methylation of suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS-3), a negative regulator gene for the JAK/STAT signaling pathway has been reported to play important roles in leukemogenesis. Imatinib mesylate is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that specifically targets the BCR-ABL protein and induces hematological remission in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Unfortunately, the majority of CML patients treated with imatinib develop resistance under prolonged therapy.

Apoptosis induction in MV4-11 and K562 human leukemic cells by Pereskia sacharosa (Cactaceae) leaf crude extract.

Background: Pereskia sacharosa is a genus of cacti widely used in folk medicine for cancer-related treatment. Anti-proliferative effects have been studied in recent years against colon, breast, cervical and lung cancer cell lines, with promising results. We here extended study of anti-proliferative effects to a blood malignancy, leukemia.