BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the effect of deferoxamine (DFO) on leukemia in vitro, and to explore the underlying molecular mechanism.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: K562 leukemia cells were treated with various concentrations of DFO (10, 50, and 100 µmol/l) with or without 10 µmol/l ferric chloride for 12 h. Then, total cellular iron was detected. CCK-8 kit and flow cytometry were used for cell viability and apoptosis detection. In addition, expression of apoptosis-related genes was determined by Western blotting and qRT-PCR, respectively.

RESULTS: The results suggested that DFO significantly inhibited K562 cell viability and induced cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that the protein and mRNA levels of Bax, p53, and Fas dose-dependently increased in DFO-treated K562 cells, while the level of Bcl-2 markedly decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the findings showed that ferric chloride eliminated these effects on K562 cells caused by DFO treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that DFO plays a protective role in leukemia via inhibiting leukemia cell viability and inducing cell apoptosis by the regulation of apoptosis-related genes expression.

Keywords: Iron Chelating Agents, Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute