G-CSF induces apoptosis of a human acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line, UF-1: possible involvement of Stat3 activation and altered Bax expression.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a cytokine that regulates the proliferation, differentiation and survival of cells in the granulocytic lineage. In this study, however, we found that G-CSF or interleukin-6 (IL-6) induced UF-1, a human acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line, into apoptosis that was confirmed by morphological features and DNA fragmentation. This rare response is demonstrated for the first time with human acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line. The apoptosis induced by G-CSF or IL-6 was not preceded by terminal differentiation characterized by morphological maturation, capability to reduce nitroblue tetrazolium, or surface CD11b expression. Interestingly, Western blot analysis revealed that the stimulation of UF-1 with either G-CSF or IL-6 resulted in excessive activation of both signal transducer and activator of transcription 3alpha (Stat3alpha) and Stat3beta. Furthermore, an additional 18 kDa Bax-related protein was expressed by the stimulation of G-CSF or IL-6, while Bcl-2 and Bcl-X proteins remained unchanged. These findings suggest that UF-1 may be a valuable tool in investigating the aberrant regulation of apoptosis, especially the Stat3 involvement in the mechanism of apoptosis induction.