The Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Exotoxin A on Human Leukemia K-562 Cells

Abstract

After reports on regression of cancer in humans and animals infected with microbial pathogens date back more than 100 years, much effort has been spent over the years in developing a wild type or attenuated bacterial and purified bacterial proteins for the treatment of cancer. Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA) is known to inhibit cell growth and trigger significant cell death in various cancer cells. Although ETA induces apoptosis of cancer cells, its exact mechanism of action is not known yet. Four different assays were performed in this study: morphological assessment of apoptotic cells, cell cytotoxity, annexin-V binding assay, and cell cycle analysis. The proliferation and survival of the K-562 cells treated with ETA were decreased in a dose dependent manner. In addition, the apoptotic body of K-562 cells was induced by ETA treatment in a dose dependent manner. The ETA-induced apoptosis was confirmed by annexin-V binding assay. Flow cytometric analysis was examined to ascertain whether ETA could arrest the cell cycle at the sub-G1 phase. Our results suggest that P. aeruginosa ETA inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in human leukemia K-562 cells.