title: Cell diameter measurements obtained with a handheld cell counter could be used as a surrogate marker of G2/M arrest and apoptosis in colon cancer cell lines exposed to SN-38.
abstract: In vitro assessment of chemosensitivity are important for experiments evaluating cancer therapies. The Scepter 2.0 cell counter, an automated handheld device based on the Coulter principle of impedance-based particle detection, enables the accurate discrimination of cell populations according to cell size and volume. In this study, the effects of SN-38, the active metabolite of irinotecan, on the colon cancer cell lines HCT116 and HT29 were evaluated using this device. The cell count data obtained with the Scepter counter were compared with those obtained with the (3)H-thymidine uptake assay, which has been used to measure cell proliferation in many previous studies. In addition, we examined whether the changes in the size distributions of these cells reflected alterations in the frequency of cell cycle arrest and/or apoptosis induced by SN-38 treatment. In our experiments using the Scepter 2.0 cell counter, the cell counts were demonstrated to be accurate and reproducible measure and alterations of cell diameter reflected G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Our data show that easy-to-use cell counting tools can be utilized to evaluate the cell-killing effects of novel treatments on cancer cells in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Oncogene Research Unit/Cancer Prevention Unit, Tochigi Cancer Center Research Institute, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tahara
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyakura
authors.forename: Hisanaga
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horie
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Kenjiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kotake
authors.forename: Kokichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugano
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002452:Cell Count / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D048429:Cell Size / Q000187:drug effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D059565:G2 Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints / Q000187:drug effects*; D045325:HCT116 Cells; D019073:HT29 Cells; D006801:Humans; D000077146:Irinotecan; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D000077146:Irinotecan; D002166:Camptothecin