Apoptosis during Retinoic Acid-Induced Differentiation of F9 Embryonal Carcinoma Cells

Abstract In this work we have characterized a process of cell death by apoptosis occurring in retinoic acid-induced differentiation of F9 embryonal carcinoma cells. Morphological changes corresponding to apoptosis were observed concomitantly with those of differentiated phenotype, in cell cultures treated for 48 h with physiological concentrations of all- trans -retinoic acid. Internucleosomal DNA fragmentation was also detected using agarose gels. These observations show that retinoic acid can induce both differentiation and apoptosis in an experimental system—the teratocarcinoma stem cell lines—widely used so far in the study of differentiation. We present this system as a tool for a better understanding of the role of retinoic acid in the regulation of cell differentiation and programmed cell death.