Differentiation induction by 12-o-tetradecanoyl 13-acetate (TPA) results in the growth arrest of HL60 cells in the G1 phase. However, little is known about the changes of cell cycle-regulating genes during this differentiation process. We investigated the changes of mRNA for various cyclins (A, C, D1, D2, D3 and E) and cdk2. Synchronized HL60 cells began to proliferate immediately after release from cell cycle block and cell cycle synchrony was obvious until the second S phase. TPA-treated cells accumulated in G1 phase within 24 h and most of the cells were arrested in this phase at 36 h. The expression of cyclins and cdk2 was studied by Northern blot hybridization of the reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). TPA treatment altered the expression of all genes studied. The expression of cdk2 and cyclin A mRNA was markedly down-regulated. Cyclin E mRNA expression was also prominently down-regulated from 12 h to 36 h, at which time a second increase of its expression was observed in control cells. In contrast, the expression of cyclin D1 mRNA was induced by TPA, while its expression in control cells was undetectable by Northern blot hybridization throughout the cell cycle. Cyclin C expression was faint and fluctuated irrelevant of cell cycle, but its expression in both control and TPA-treated cells was higher than at baseline. Cyclin D2 expression remained stable in control cells and TPA treatment resulted in slight down-regulation at 12 h, but no difference was observed after 24 h.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)