Investigation of Simultaneous Effect of Gtp and Ara-C on Atg5 Expression in Nb4 Cells

Background and aim: current therapeutic strategies used to treat leukemia are unable to eradicate undifferentiated leukemia stem cells, meaning that the treatment of leukemia remains a challenge in medicine.in this study, we attempt to address the role of atg5 as an autophagic marker in the mechanism of action and differentiation therapy of cytarabine (ara-c) and guanosin 5'-triphosphate (gtp) in combination with each other, in leukemia nb4 cells.methods: nb4 cells (leukemia cell line) were purchased from national cell bank of iran (pasteur institute, tehran, iran). cells grown and incubated in standard situation. then, cells were sub-culture into 75cm2 flasks, 96-well plates or 6-well plates. cell growth and viability were evaluated by trypan blue exclusion test. real time pcr was used to evaluate atg5 gene expression level. actin gene was used as housekeeping gene. analyses were conducted using the anova.results: the results indicated that gtp is potent inducer of autophagy, and this autophagic effects can potentiates differentiating and cytotoxic effects of ara-c in nb4 cells.conclusion: this study highlights therapeutic benefits of autophagy inducers such as gtp for improving anti-leukemic effects of ara-c in nb4 cells.