The antitumoral activity of 13-demethyl or 13-substituted all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and 9-cis retinoic acid (9CRA) was tested using the myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60. Cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation assay. The ability to bind to human RXRa a and to activate either human retinoic acid response element (RARE)-mediated gene expression or rat CRABPII retinoid X response element (RXRa a)-mediated gene expression were determined using luciferase reporter plasmids. In terms of the magnitude of the regulatory activity for the proliferation and differentiation of HL-60 cells, the compounds ranked as follows: ATRAϾ13-ethyl ATRAϾ13-demethyl ATRAϾ13-phenylethyl ATRAϾ13-propyl ATRAϾ13-butyl ATRA (ATRA analogues) and 9CRAϾ13-ethyl 9CRAϾ13-demethyl 9CRAϾ13-propyl 9CRAϾ13-phenetyl 9CRAϾ13-butyl 9CRA (9CRA analogues). Regarding the magnitude of the apoptosis-inducing activity, the order was: 9CRAϾ13-ethyl 9CRAϾ13-demethyl 9CRA, with ATRA and its analogues and the other 9CRA analogues virtually inactive. Similar trends were observed in binding affinity for RXRa a and transactivation activity toward RARE-or RXRE-mediated gene expression. The results clearly indicate that the presence of a methyl group at C-13 is essential for the antitumoral activity of ATRA and 9CRA, and that bulky substituents exceeding two carbon atoms or the absence of substitution at position 13 significantly reduce the binding affinity for RAR and RXR, leading to a decreased RAR/RARE and/or RXR/RXRE-mediated gene expression.Key words all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA); 9-cis retinoic acid (9CRA); retinoic acid receptor (RAR); retinoic acid response element (RARE); retinoid X receptor (RXR); retinoid X response element (RXRE) buffered saline (PBS) [PBS(Ϫ)], the synchronization of the cell cycle was repeated in the same manner, and the cells thus obtained were used in the biological assays.Flow Cytometry Cells (10 5 cells/well) were placed in 24-well tissue culture plates and cultured for 3 d with retinoids (10
Ϫ10-10 Ϫ6 M) in RPMI-1640 medium at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO 2 in air. To reduce the effects of contact inhibition, control cells were adjusted to 60 to 70% confluency at the time of the FACS analysis. Each group of cells was collected in PBS(Ϫ). Then, the cells were resuspended in PBS(Ϫ) containing 0.2% Triton-X and 1 ml RNase, and incubated at 37°C for 1 h. Cells were washed with PBS(Ϫ) and incubated with 0.5 ml of DNA-staining solution containing propidium iodide (50 mg/ml) at 4°C for 20 min. The cells were analyzed with a flow cytometer equipped with an argon laser (488 nm, Becton Dickinson FACScan TM ) and the cell cycle distribution was analyzed using ModiFiT LT (Verity).Cell Surface Antigen Expression Analysis Cells (10 5 cells/well) were placed in 24-well tissue culture plates, and cultured for 3 d in RPMI-1640 medium with retinoids (10
Ϫ10-10 Ϫ6 M) under the same conditions as described for the flow cytometry. Each group of cells was then collected a...