Patent ID: 7238525

Claim:
A method of inducing apoptosis in leukemia cells expressing Bcr-Abl, the method comprising: (a) providing an in vitro cell culture comprising (i) leukemia cells expressing Bcr-Abl and (ii) a first cell culture medium; (b) administering to the cell culture (i) Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase activity inhibitor STI-571, and (ii) leptomycin B (LMB), in amounts sufficient to induce accumulation of Bcr-Abl in nuclei of the leukemia cells expressing Bcr-Abl; and (c) replacing the cell culture medium of (b) with a second cell culture medium comprising LMB in an amount sufficient for induction of apoptosis in leukemia cells having Bcr-Abl accumulated in nuclei, thereby inducing apoptosis in the leukemia cells expressing Bcr-Abl.