Effects of troglitazone on the growth and differentiation of hematopoietic cell lines

Troglitazone (Tro), one of the thiazolidinediones, is a novel antidiabetic agent for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Tro is a specific ligand of PPAR gamma, the nuclear receptor that regulates the growth and differentiation of cells at the transcriptional level. We attempted to investigate the effect of Tro on HL-60 and other hematopoietic cell lines and thus found HL-60 cells to be arrested at the G1 phase and to differentiate into monocytes. In addition, apoptosis was also induced by Tro at higher concentrations. The G1 arrest was induced in all the hematopoietic cell lines examined while differentiation into the monocytic lineage was observed not only in the myelogenous and promonocytic cell lines but also in an erythroleukemia cell line.