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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Pre-clinical Evaluation of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Treatment of Acute Leukemia
Published on: September 18, 2013
[Mechanism related to inhibition of leukemia K562 cells by berbamine]
Yan-lin WEI1, Lei XU, Xiao-ying ZHAO
1Department of Hematology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China. zrxz@zju.edu.cn
Objective:
To investigate the mechanism related to the inhibition of leukemia K562 cells by berbamine.
Methods:
After K562 cells were treated with 8 microg/ml berbamine, the expression levels of NF-kappaB, IkappaBalpha, pIkappaBalpha, IKKalpha, A20 were determined by Western blot.
Results:
With the exposure time extending, the total NF-kappaB showed no significant changes,but NF-kappaB expression in nucleus was decreased dramatically after treated with berbamine for 24 h. The ratio of nucleus NF-kappaB/histone H1 was decreased from 59.2%,gradually to 31.4%,19.7%,4.1%,and 0%. At the same time,the expression of A20 was increased,while the expression of pIkappaBalpha, IKKalpha was down-regulated.
Conclusion:
Berbamine may induce K562 cell apoptosis through NF-kappaB pathway. Down-regulation of NF-kappaB and bcr-abl gene expression might be involved in cell apoptosis.
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