Effect of 5-fluorouracil on cell cycle regulatory proteins in human colon cancer cell line.

We investigated the effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on cell cycle-regulating proteins in RPMI 4788 cells. 5-FU inhibited cell growth dose-dependently and this growth inhibition was accompanied with cell cycle accumulation in early S phase and increased expression of cyclin A. When cells were released from short-term treatment (3 or 24 h) with 5-FU, the cell cycle started to progress again and cyclin A protein levels decreased. Cyclin A-associated kinase activity assay showed that cyclin A-cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) 2 kinase activity was altered by 5-FU treatment concomitantly with the changes in cell cycle state seen in flow cytometric analysis. Furthermore, the elevation of cyclin A protein level by 5-FU treatment was observed in three other human cancer cell lines, DLD-1, H226Br and T.Tn. These results suggest that cyclin A protein levels in cancer cells are increased by 5-FU, and the cyclin A function and degradation mechanism remain normal.