• Echinomycin and L-Asparaginase induce apoptosis in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line
  • Mozhgan Zolfaghari,1 Mahnoosh Abbaszade Dibavar,2 Amir Atashi,3,* Reyhaneh Abriyan,4
    1. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
    2. Department of Hematology and Blood Banking, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
    3. Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
    4. Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran


  • Introduction: One of the best approaches for cancer therapy is combinational chemical drug therapy. Echinomycin and L-Asparaginase, have therapeutic effects on Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) with known side effects in various cases. Combination of these drugs maybe lead to reduced dose of each one and eventually decreased side effects. In this experimental study, the effects of combinational usage of these drugs was studied on a lymphocytic leukemia cell line.
  • Methods: Jurkat cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 culture medium containing 10% FBS and L-glutamine. MTT assay was performed to find IC50 concentration of L-Asparaginase, Echinomycin and combination of them. Annexin V-PI apoptosis assay was also done by flow cytometry to assess apoptotic effects of L-Asparaginase, Echinomycin and their combination.
  • Results: The synchronized effect of two drugs (Echinomycin and l-Asparaginase with a concentration of 0.025 μM and 0.012 IU/ml, respectively) was 25%. The rate of apoptosis in a single dose of Echinomycin at a concentration of 0.025 μM, is 25%.
  • Conclusion: That is, despite decreased dose of drugs, but the degradation of the cells has not diminished, indicating the synergistic effect of the two drugs.
  • Keywords: Echinomycin, L-Asparaginase, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Apoptosis