The acute promyelocytic leukemia-specific PML/RAR alpha fusion protein reduces the frequency of commitment to apoptosis upon growth factor deprivation of GM-CSF-dependent myeloid cells.
To gain insights in the cell growth and differentiation of APL cells, expression of hematopoietic growth factors (HGF) shown to be produced by leukemic cells (interleukin-1 beta [IL-1 beta], IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor [G-CSF], granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF], and IL-3) was studied in 16 APL samples.
Bone marrow and/or peripheral blood cells from 12 patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) were cultured in soft agar or methylcellulose in the presence of 15% human placental conditioned medium as a source of colony stimulating factor.