Indole-3-carbinol induces G1 cell cycle arrest in pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of cancer in children. Currently, chemotherapy is the most effective method of leukemia cancer treatmentwhich has many side effects. New strategies in cancer therapy utilizecompounds that specifically target aberrant signaling pathways in order to reduce toxic sideeffects Indole-3-carbinl (I3C) found in vegetables has multiple anti-cancer properties because of its ability to modulate multiple cellular signaling pathways. In this study the molecular mechanism of the action of indole-3-carbinol on pre- B ALL cells was investigated. In current study, NALM-6 cells were treated with different concentrations of I3C at specific times. Analysis of cellular DNA content was performed by flow cytometry for evaluation of cell cycle status. The protein expression of p21, p53 as well as c-Myc proteins was determined by Western blot in I3C-treated cells. Cell cycle histogram analysis showed that I3C significantly increased the percentage of G1 cells compared with non-treated cells (control)(p<0.05). The western blot analysis also indicated I3C significantly up regulated p21, p53 expression and down regulated c-Myc expression (p<0.05). The G1 arrest induced by I3C is associated with down-regulation of c-Myc and up-regulation of p53 and its downstream target p21.