[Cell shrinkage during apoptosis is not obligatory. Apoptosis of U937 cells induced by staurosporine and etoposide].
A study was made of apoptotic cell shrinkage, which is generally believed to be a hallmark of apoptosis. The two conventional models of apoptosis were used for examination of changes in cell water balance--one is apoptosis caused in human lymphoma cell line U937 by staurosporine, and the other by etoposide. Intracellular water was determined by measuring buoyant density of cells in continuous Percoll gradient. Apoptosis was recognized by microscopy and flow cytometry. Apoptosis caused by staurosporine (1 microM, 4 h) was found to be associated with a decrease in cell water content by almost 24%. In contrast, no decrease in cell water content was observed in U937 cells incubated with etoposide (50 microM, 4 h), in spite of the number of features suggesting the presence of apoptosis, such as the appearance of apoptotic bodies, chromatin condensation and fragmentation and disappearance of S-phase cells in DNA histogram. It is concluded that definition of apoptosis as "shrinkage-necrosis" (Kerr, 1971) needs correcting: the distinction of apoptotic cells involves the absence of swelling, rather than cell shrinkage.
A A
AA
Vereninov
T S
TS
Goriachaia
V V
VV
Matveev
A V
AV
Moshkov
Iu M
IuM
Rozanov
G A
GA
Sakuta
A V
AV
Shirokova
V E
VE
Iurinskaia
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis; D048429:Cell Size / Q000187:drug effects; D005047:Etoposide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D013046:Specific Gravity / Q000187:drug effects; D019311:Staurosporine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020298:U937 Cells; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis
D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D014867:Water; D005047:Etoposide; D019311:Staurosporine