BMSCs mediated chemoprotection prevents the activation of the apoptotic cell death pathway.

<p>APL cells were cultured alone or co-cultured with M2-BMSCs for 2 hours before treatment with Ara-C (125, 250 and 500 ng/ml) or vehicle alone (control) for 24 hours. (A) Caspase-3 activation was assessed by flow cytometry using a PE-active caspase-3 monoclonal antibody and mouse GR-1-FITC antibody. (B) Cell lysates were processed for western blot analysis to detect cleaved PARP using a mouse monoclonal antibody. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of triplicates from individual experiments. *<i>p</i><0.05; and ***<i>p</i><0.001 (APL versus APL + BMSCs).