Decitabine induces aneuploidy in p53 deficient Burkitt lymphoma (BL) cells. (A) The BL cell lines Akata, KemI, and KemIII were treated with 2 μM decitabine (Dec) for 48 hours. The cell-cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry of cells stained with propidium iodide. Cells regarded as aneuploid are indicated by arrows. (B) TP53 status correlates with presence of decitabine-induced aneuploidy of BL cells. Cells were irradiated with 10 Gy of ionizing radiation (γ-IR) and harvested 24 hours after treatment for analysis with Western blot using a monoclonal antibody against p53. The KemI cell line exhibits abnormally high levels of p53 irrespective of DNA damage, which is indicative of a TP53 mutant status. KemIII cells induce p53 after γ-IR treatment, as predicted by cells carrying wild-type TP53. Akata cells do not express p53, as previously shown.³²