European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 1 - Number 1
Eur J Anat, 1 (1): 31-36 (1997)

Myogenic differentiation induced by actinomycin D in human rhabdomyosarcoma cells: modification in the expression of MyoD and Id

C. Melguizo1, J. Prados1, R. Sarrat2, N Arena3, L Álvarez and A. Aránega4

1.-Department of Health Sciences and Clinical Psychology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain 2.-Department of Morphological Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain 3.-Histology Institute, School of Medicine, University of Degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari, Italy 4.-Basic Cardiovascular Research Section, Department of Morphological Sciences, School Of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

ABSTRACT Neoplastic transformation may be an inability to respond adequarely to proliferation and differentiation signals. Studies in vivo showed that rhabdomyosarcomas, tumors originate de novo from the skeletal muscle, can acquire a higher degree of myogenic differentiation after cytotoxic treatment. We used the rhabdomyosarcoma cell line RD induced to differentiate with actinomycin D to analyze mmodifications in the degree of myogenic differentiation. Our results showed that a decrease in Id, a negative regulator of MyoD activity, may induce activation of muscle creatine kinase expression, which leads to a process of biochemical differentiation in these cells. Our findings suggest that the capacity of rhabdomyosarcoma cells to differentiate is not lost, and the necessary structural genes may still be operative. Consequently, differentition therapy with antineoplastic drugs may be used in rhabdomyosarcomas as a clinical alternative in the treatment of these tumors.

Keywords: Rhabdomyosarcoma, cell differentiation, actinomycin D, creatine kinase

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)