Treatment of human promyelocytic leukemia in the SCID mouse model with cotylenin A, an inducer of myelomonocytic differentiation of leukemia cells.

Cotylenin A has differentiation-inducing activity in human myeloid leukemia cell lines and leukemic cells that were freshly isolated from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients in primary culture. Injection of the human promyelocytic leukemia cell line NB4 into SCID mice resulted in the death of all mice due to leukemia. Administration of cotylenin A significantly prolonged the survival of mice inoculated with NB4 cells. In an in vivo analysis, cotylenin A induced the differentiation of leukemia cells in a retinoid-resistant leukemia model. Cotylenin A may be useful for differentiation therapy of retinoid-resistant leukemia.