Inhibition and down-regulation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase results in a marked resistance of HL-60 cells to various apoptosis-inducers.

In a previous report we described that adenosine-induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells was blocked by the pretreatment of cells with a potent inhibitor (3-aminobenzamide) of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). The pretreatment of the cells with nicotinamide, another inhibitor of the enzyme, also suppressed most effectively the adenosine-induced apoptosis. This inhibition was reversible and observed during apoptosis mediated by other known apoptosis inducers such as actinomycin D and staurosporine (group I inducers), but nicotinamide was ineffective on the apoptosis mediated by VM 26, camptothecin and A23187 (group II inhibitors). In addition to the enzyme inhibition, a down-regulation of the enzyme level caused by the pretreatments of cells with differentiation-inducing agents, retinoic acid (RA) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) also resulted in a marked resistance of the cells to the apoptosis inducers. A pretreatment of the cells for a limited time of 24 hrs. by these agents decreased the PARP level to 66-75% of the untreated cells and the cells showed a quite similar resistance to the group I apoptosis inducers like the cells treated with the enzyme inhibitors, whereas they were still sensitive to the group II inhibitors. A more prolonged treatment for 48 hrs. of the cells with RA and DMSO resulted in further down-regulation of the cellular PARP reaching respectively 50 and 43% of control cells and at this stage, the cells became resistant to all the inducers of both groups. These results suggest that the pathway, by which both groups of the inducers initiate and progress apoptosis, is not identical but include at least two different processes which are differently affected by PARP-inhibition or by different levels of cellular PARP.