Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 29 (2) June 2017, p. 251-261

APOPTOSIS GENE NETWORK REGULATED BY DELTA-TOCOTRIENOL IN K562 CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKAEMIA CELLS

NG KAY LEE*; AMMU KUTTY RADHAKRISHNAN* and KANGA RANI SELVADURAY**

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2017.2902.09
ABSTRACT

Palm oil is rich in various health-beneficial phytonutrients. The vitamin E and the carotenoids make up a large portion of these phytonutrients. The tocotrienols are a relatively newer class of vitamin E isoforms that are actively being researched for its various health promoting properties. In this study, the anti-cancer properties of the delta-tocotrienol (δ-T3) isoform were investigated on a leukemic cell line. A preliminary cytotoxicity assay was carried out to identify δ-T3’s potency in inducing cell death. Following this a real time-based gene array experiment was carried out to distinguish the apoptosis genes regulated by δ-T3 in the K562 leukemic cell line. Results show that treatment with δ-T3 significant regulated the expression of several genes that promote apoptosis such as TP53, TP73, HRK, MCL1, CASP7, CASP8, DAPK1, PYCARD, FASLG and TNFRSF9. These findings suggest that palm δ-T3 can exert anti-cancer activities in chronic myeloid leukemic cells

KEYWORDS:


* School of Medicine, International Medical University, 129, Jalan Jalil Perkasa 19, Bukit Jalil, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: ammu_radhakrishnan@imu.edu.my

** Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.