Genistein-Induced Apoptosis Affects Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Activity in Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia

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 mu M 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.