Metformin Influences the Effect of Adipocytes on Leukemia Cell Chemoresistance through Regulation of Adipogenesis / 中国实验血液学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of metformin on 3T3-L1 preadipocyte's differentiation and consequently observe the anti-proliferative effects of metformin-treated adipocytes on leukemia cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Different concentrations of metformin were added in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes to induce maturation, the matured adipocytes were detected by oil red O staining and quantified by absorbance value (OD). Real-time PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression level of the key adipogenic genes PPARγ, C/EBPα and FABP4(ap2). The adipocytes were co-cultured with GFP+-THP-1 cells, 1 µg/ml of cytarabine(Ara-C) was added and incubated for 48 hours, the flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptosis rate of GFP+-THP-1 cells. Adipocyte supernatant was collected and mixed with equal volume of tumor lysat medium (RPMI 1640) at 11 to culture tumor cells. The leukemia cell proliferation activity was detected by CCK-8; after 48 hours of adding 1 µg/ml Ara-C, the protective effect on chemotherapy was assayed by using cytometer.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The metformin lowered the OD value, and the expression levels of both adipogenic genes C/EBPα and FABP4 were lower than those of controls, while the expression level of PPARγ mRNA was not significantly changed, the apoptosis rate of leukemia cells co-caltured with metformin-treated adipocytes was higher than that of co-cultured cells without metformin treatment. The adipocytes promoted the leukimia cell proliferation and protected leukemia cells from chemotherapy, which could be abrogated by metformin.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The metformin can inhibit the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes into adipocytes, and can regulate the protective effect of adipocytes on the apoptosis, proliferation and chemotherapy of leukemia cells.</p>