The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanism of
CAG regimen eliminating T-cell
acute lymphoblastic leukemia (
T-ALL) A3 cell line and evaluate the role of
G-CSF/G-CSFR system in this process. The expression levels of G-CSFR on the A3 cell membrane were detected by flow cytometry. Cell cycle changes of A3 cells treated with different concentrations of
G-CSF for 48 hours were examined by
propidium iodide staining method. The inhibition and apoptosis rates of A3 cells treated with various combinations of
G-CSF,
cytarabine (
Ara-C),
aclarubicin (ACR) were analyzed by Cell Counting Kit and AnnexinV Kit, respectively. The results indicated that the expression level of G-CSFR on A3 cells was 94.2%. The proportion of A3 cells in S-phase rose concomitantly with the increasing of
G-CSF concentrations within 0-20 ng/ml. After incubation with
Ara-C and
G-CSF for 48 hours, A3 cells were inhibited more obviously compared with incubation with
Ara-C alone (p<0.05,
Ara-C 10(-5) mol/L and 10(-6) mol/L). After incubation with
Ara-C, ACR and
G-CSF for 48 hours, the apoptotic rate of A3 cells was much more than that after incubation with
Ara-C and ACR. It is concluded that the expression level of G-CSFR on A3 cells is high,
G-CSF/G-CSFR system has a synergetic effect on eliminating A3 cells when administrated simultaneously with chemical agents. This effect is caused through driving more cells from G0 phase into S phase, increasing sensitivity of A3 cells to chemical drugs and inducing cell apoptosis which may be one of the mechanisms of
CAG regimen eliminating A3 cells.