title: Comparison of caspase-3 activation in tumor cells upon treatment of chemotherapeutic drugs using capillary electrophoresis.
abstract: Caspases play important roles in cell apoptosis. Measurement of the dynamics of caspase activation in tumor cells not only facilitates understanding of the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis but also contributes to the development, screening, and evaluation of anticancer drugs that target apoptotic pathways. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technique provides a valuable approach for defining the dynamics of apoptosis with high spatio-temporal resolution. However, FRET generally functions in the single-cell level and becomes ineffective when applied in the high throughput detection of caspase activation. In the current study, a FRET sensor was combined with capillary electrophoresis (CE) to achieve a high throughput method for cellular caspase detection. The FRET-based CE system is composed of a homemade CE system and a laser source for detecting the dynamics of caspase-3 in various cells expressing sensors of caspase-3 that have been treated with anticancer drugs, such as cell cycle-independent drug cisplatin and specific cell cycle drugs camptothecin and etoposide, as well as their combination with tumor necrosis factor (TNF). A positive correlation between the caspase-3 activation velocity and drug concentration was observed when the cells were treated with cisplatin, but cells induced by camptothecin and etoposide did not show any apparent correlation with their concentrations. Moreover, different types of cells presented distinct sensitivities under the same drug treatment, and the combination treatment of TNF and anticancer drugs significantly accelerated the caspase-3 activation process. Its high throughput capability and detection sensitivity make the FRET-based CE system a useful tool for investigating the mechanisms of anticancer drugs and anticancer drug screening.
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics-Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sha
authors.forename: Honglin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ruiting
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.forename: Jinling
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000494:pharmacology; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000494:pharmacology; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods*; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D005047:Etoposide / Q000494:pharmacology; D006367:HeLa Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D005047:Etoposide; D053148:Caspase 3; D002945:Cisplatin; D002166:Camptothecin