Epigallocatechin-3-gallate induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in HTLV-1-positive and -negative leukemia cells.

Harakeh S, Abu-El-Ardat K, Diab-Assaf M, Niedzwiecki A, El-Sabban M, Rath M, Medical Oncology, 2008, 25 (1), 30-9.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of epigallocatechin gallate against ATL cells. The anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of EGCG were evaluated in HTLV-1-positive and -negative cells. EGCG exhibited a marked decrease in proliferation of ATL cells at 96 h of treatment. The results indicated that TGF-alpha was down-regulated whereas levels of TGF-beta2 increased. Cell cycle distribution analysis revealed an increase in cells in the pre-G(1) phase which was confirmed by ELISA. The results on proteins showed an up-regulation of p53, Bax and p21 protein levels while the levels of Bcl-2alpha were down-regulated.