Haematologica (Apr 2007)
Effect of histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid on progenitor cells of acute myeloid leukemia
Abstract
Histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid (VPA) was recently shown to enhance proliferation and self-renewal of normal hematopoietic stem cells, raising the possibility that VPA may also support growth of leukemic progenitor cells (LPC). Here, VPA maintains a significantly higher proportion of CD34+ LPC and colony forming units compared to control cultures in six AML samples, but selectively reduces leukemic cell numbers in another AML sample with expression of AML1/ETO. Our data suggest a differential effect of VPA on the small population of AML progenitor cells and the bulk of aberrantly differentiated blasts in the majority of AML samples tested.