This study was purposed to investigate the impact of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSC) on the sensitivity of HL-60 cells to therapeutic drugs so as to provide more information for exploring the regulatory effect of hUC-MSC on leukemia cells. Transwell and direct co-culture systems of HL-60 and hUC-MSC were established. The apoptosis and cell cycle of HL-60 cells were detected by flow cytometry. RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein levels of Caspase 3, respectively. The results showed that the apoptosis of HL-60 induced by cytarabine (Ara-C) decreased significantly after direct co-cultured with hUC-MSC cycle mRNA (P < 0.05). The similar phenomenon was observed in transwell co-culture system. Cell cycle of HL-60 cells were arrested at G0/G1 phase and did not enter into S phase (P < 0.05) and the expression of Caspase-3 mRNA and protein in HL-60 cells were reduced (P < 0.05). It is concluded that hUC-MSC protected HL-60 from Arc-C induced apoptosis through regulating the cell cycle and down-regulating expression of Caspase 3 in HL-60 cells. In addition, this effect is caused by the soluble factors from hUC-MSC.