ATLA::Alternatives to Laboratory Animals

Volume 24, Number 4

The human leukemic HL-60 cell line: an in vitro model for cell death endpoint identifications.

ATLA 24, 581-587, July/August 1996

Cristiana Zanetti,¹ Annalaura Stammati,¹ Orazio Sapora¹ and Flavia Zucco²

Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Laboratorio di Tossicologia Comparata ed Ecotossicologia, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Roma, Italy; ²Istituto di Tecuologie Biomediche, via Morgagni 30/E, 00161 Roma, Italy

SUMMARY

The aim of this study was to investigate the endpoints related to cell death, either necrosis or apoptosis, imduced by four chemicals in the promyelocytic leukemia cell line, HL-60. Cell morphology, DNA fragmentation, cytofluorimetric analysis and oxygen consumption were used to classify the type of cell death observed. In our analysis, we found that not all the selected parameters reproduced the differences observed in the cell death caused by the four chemicals tested. As cell death is a very complex phenomenon, several factors should be taken into account (cell type, exposure time and chemical concentration), if chemicals are to be classified according to differences in the mechanisms more directly involved in cell death.

Keywords: cell death, necrosis, apoptosis, HL-60 cells, endpoints