Abstract. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is characterized by a specific chromosomal translation, resulting in a fusion gene that affects the differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis of APL cells. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a catechin, exhibits numerous biological functions, including antitumor activities. Previous studies have reported that EGCG induces apoptosis in NB4 cells. However, the molecular mechanism underlying EGCG-induced apoptosis remains unclear. The present study aimed to determine the molecular basis of EGCG-induced apoptosis in NB4 cells. EGCG treatment significantly inhibited the viability of NB4 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, EGCG treatment induced apoptosis and increased the levels of (Bcl-2-like protein 4) Bax protein expression. Moreover, EGCG treatment was able to increase phosphorylated (p)-p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Src homology 1 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP-1) expression. Pretreatment with PD169316 (a p38 MAPK inhibitor) partially blocked EGCG-induced apoptosis and inhibited EGCG-mediated Bax expression. Similarly, pretreatment with NSC87877, an inhibitor of SHP-1, partially blocked EGCG-induced apoptosis and inhibited EGCG-mediated increases in p-p38α MAPK and Bax expression. Therefore, the results of the present study indicate that EGCG is able to induce apoptosis in NB4 cells via the SHP-1-p38αMAPK-Bax cascade.
IntroductionAcute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), a unique subtype of acute myeloid leukemia, is characterized by a translocation between chromosomes 15 and 17 that encodes the oncogenic fusion protein promyelocytic leukemia/retinoic acid receptor-α (PML/RARα) (1). PML-RARα has an essential role in the development of APL by interfering with target genes that control differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis of APL cells (2). Considerable success in treating APL has been achieved using all-trans retinoic acid (3) and arsenic trioxide (4) in clinical settings. However, the toxicity of these molecules and the prevalence of drug-resistant forms of APL limit the clinical application of these drugs (5). Therefore, novel therapeutics to treat APL are urgently required.Src homology 1 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP-1), also known as PTPN6 (6), consists of 17 exons and 16 introns and spans ~17 kb (7). SHP-1 controls the changes in the levels of intracellular phosphorylation, including JAK/STAT (8). SHP-1 exerts multiple biological functions through the alteration of several signaling pathways (9,10). A number of agonists and inhibitors of SHP-1 have been applied in clinical cancer therapies. For example, γ-tocotrienol (11) and regorafenib (12) have been used to treat breast tumors and colorectal cancer, respectively. Studies have reported that SHP-1 is highly expressed in normal hematopoietic cells (13) but weakly expressed in hematological malignancies, including Burkitt's lymphoma (14), APL (15) and chronic myeloid leukemia (16). Therefore, the present authors hypothesize that increases ...