Objective: To explore the mechanism of arsenic (arsenic trioxide, AS2O3) in treating leukemia.
Methods: The in vitro effect of arsenic trioxide on HL-60 model double-labelled with PI/AnnexinV-FITC was studied ith flow cytometry. Function on telomerase activity was also observed.
Results: After the effect of arsenic on HL-60 cell line, PI negative/AnnexinV-FITC positive cells increased, it mainly acts at the G2-M phase that suggests the apoptosis takes place, mild inhibition on telomerase was also found 48 hours later.
Conclusion: Apoptosis induced by arsenic trioxide was the main mechanism in killing or inhibiting leukemic cells.