Figure 1.

A treatment combining IFN-α and As₂O₃ can cure murine ATL. (A) Western blot analysis of Tax and actin protein expression in human ATL-derived HuT-102 cells after 48 h treatment with As₂O₃ (As), IFN-α, or a combination thereof. (B–D) Effect, at day 18 after inoculation of SCID mice with Tax transgenic splenocytes, of 3-d IFN-α + As₂O₃ treatment on circulating leukemia cell numbers (n = 3 for each condition; B). Normal SCID mice were not injected with Tax transgenic splenocytes. NF-κB activation (C) and calcemia (n = 4; D) are shown. ATL denotes untreated animals, and PS-341 denotes the proteasome inhibitor. (E) Effect, at day 12 after inoculation of SCID mice with Tax transgenic splenocytes, of 6-d IFN-α + As₂O₃ treatment on spleen weight (n = 3). Normal SCID mice were not injected with Tax transgenic splenocytes. (B, D, and E) Error bars show mean ± SD. (F) Kaplan–Meier analysis of overall survival curves of the murine ATL transplant recipients (n = 10 for each condition). P-values are indicated. T1 denotes treatment from day 6 to 30; T2 indicates additional treatment from day 42 to 54. This experiment was reproduced three times with similar results.