At present, nuclear condensation and fragmentation have been estimated also using Hoechst probes in fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. However, none of the methods used the Hoechst probes for quantitative spectrofluorometric assessment. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to develop a spectrofluorometric assay for detection of nuclear condensation and fragmentation in the intact cells. We used human hepatoma HepG2 and renal HK-2 cells cultured in 96-well plates treated with potent apoptotic inducers (i.e. cisplatin, staurosporine, camptothecin) for 6-48 h. Afterwards, the cells were incubated with Hoechst 33258 (2 µg/mL) and the increase of fluorescence after binding of the dye to DNA was measured. The developed spectrofluorometric assay was capable to detect nuclear changes caused by all tested apoptotic inducers. Then, we compared the outcomes of the spectrofluorometric assay with other methods detecting cell impairment and apoptosis (i.e. WST-1 and glutathione tests, TUNEL, DNA ladder, caspase activity, PARP-1 and JNKs expressions). We found that our developed spectrofluorometric assay provided results of the same sensitivity as the TUNEL assay but with the advantages of being fast processing, low-cost and a high throughput. Because nuclear condensation and fragmentation can be typical markers of cell death, especially in apoptosis, we suppose that the spectrofluorometric assay could become a routinely used method for characterizing cell death processes.

• MeSH
• antitumorózní látky farmakologie   MeSH
• apoptóza účinky léků   MeSH
• bisbenzimidazol chemie   MeSH
• buněčná smrt účinky léků   MeSH
• buněčné jádro účinky léků   metabolismus   MeSH
• buněčné linie MeSH
• buňky Hep G2 MeSH
• cisplatina farmakologie   MeSH
• fluorescenční mikroskopie metody   MeSH
• fluorescenční spektrometrie metody   MeSH
• fragmentace DNA účinky léků   MeSH
• kamptothecin farmakologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• průtoková cytometrie metody   MeSH
• reprodukovatelnost výsledků MeSH
• staurosporin farmakologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Cadmium is a heavy metal causing toxicity especially in kidney cells. The toxicity is linked also with enhanced oxidative stress leading to cell death. On the other hand, our recent experiments have shown that an increase of total intracellular dehydrogenases activity can also occur in kidney cells before declining until cell death. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to evaluate this transient enhancement in cell viability after cadmium treatment. The human kidney HK-2 cell line was treated with CdCl(2) at concentrations 0-200 microM for 2-24 h and intracellular dehydrogenase activity was tested. In addition, we measured reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, glutathione levels, mitochondrial membrane potential, and C-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation. We found that significantly increased dehydrogenase activity could occur in cells treated with 25, 100, and 200 microM CdCl(2). Moreover, the results showed an increase in ROS production linked with JNK activation following the enhancement of dehydrogenase activity. Other tests detected no relationship with the increased in intracellular dehydrogenase activity. Hence, the transient increase in dehydrogenase activity in HK-2 cells preceded the enhancement of ROS production and our finding provides new evidence in cadmium kidney toxicity.

• MeSH
• aktivace enzymů účinky léků   fyziologie   MeSH
• buněčné linie MeSH
• kadmium toxicita   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• membránový potenciál mitochondrií účinky léků   fyziologie   MeSH
• oxidační stres účinky léků   fyziologie   MeSH
• oxidoreduktasy metabolismus   MeSH
• proximální tubuly ledvin účinky léků   metabolismus   MeSH
• reaktivní formy kyslíku metabolismus   MeSH
• viabilita buněk účinky léků   fyziologie   MeSH
• vztah mezi dávkou a účinkem léčiva MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH