Retinoblastoma protein prevents staurosporine-induced cell death in a retinoblastoma-defective human glioma cell line.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of staurosporine-induced glioma cell death and cell cycle arrest using adenovirus-mediated gene transfection, as well as the function of retinoblastoma (Rb) and genetic instability induced by staurosporine. METHODS: Cell cycle regulation, cell death and nuclear abnormalities induced by staurosporine were examined using an adenovirus vector expressing Rb, p16 or p21 genes in human glioma cell lines. RESULTS: The Rb-defective SF-539 cell line was resistant to staurosporine compared with cell lines expressing intact Rb. SF-539 glioma cells exposed to staurosporine became multinucleated and then died. Multinucleation was prevented in SF-539 cells transfected with the Rb gene, thus decreasing the death rate of these cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results imply that enforced Rb expression protects cells from genomic instability induced by staurosporine regardless of its upstream molecular effects.