Nuclear chromatin texture and sensitivity to DNase I in human leukaemic CEM cells incubated with nanomolar okadaic acid

Prediction of radiosensitivity in human bladder cell lines using nuclear chromatin phenotype

BACKGROUND

Nuclear texture analysis measures phenotypic changes in chromatin distribution within a cell nucleus, while the alkaline Comet assay is a sensitive method for measuring the extent of DNA breakage in individual cells. The authors aim to use both methods to provide information about the sensitivity of cells to ionizing radiation.

METHODS

The alkaline Comet assay was performed on six human bladder carcinoma cell lines and one human urothelial cell line exposed to gamma-radiation doses from 0 to 10 Gy. Nuclear chromatin texture analysis of 40 features was then performed in the same cell lines exposed to 0, 2, and 6 Gy to explore if nuclear phenotype was related to radiation sensitivity.

RESULTS

Comet assay results demonstrated that the cell lines exhibited different levels of radiosensitivity and could be divided into a radiosensitive and a radioresistant group at >6 Gy. Using stepwise discriminant analysis, a subset of important nuclear texture features that best discriminated between sensitive and resistant cell lines were identified A classification function, defined using these features, correctly classified 81.75% of all cells into their radiosensitive or radioresistant groups based on their pretreatment chromatin phenotype. Posttreatment chromatin changes also varied between cell lines, with sensitive cell lines showing a relaxed chromatin conformation following radiation, whereas resistant cell lines exhibited chromatin condensation.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors conclude that the alkaline Comet assay and nuclear texture methodologies may prove to be valuable aids in predicting the response of tumor cells to radiotherapy.

Effects of the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A on nuclear texture and c-jun gene expression in drug-sensitive and drug-resistant human H69 lung carcinoma cells

BACKGROUND

Texture analysis of chromatin patterns by image cytometry can be used in the development and refinement of diagnosis and prognosis of cancers and in the follow-up of therapies. However, little is known about the biological mechanisms underlying these patterns. Epigenetic mechanisms as histone posttranslational modifications and particularly histone acetylation could play a major role in the determination of these chromatin patterns and then influence nuclear texture measurements.

METHODS

This study examined the consequences of treatment by the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) on the nuclear texture in human cell lines sensitive and resistant to chemotherapy. Small cell lung carcinoma H69 cells and their variant H69-VP, which is resistant to etoposide, were incubated with 100 ng/ml of TSA for 0 to 24 h. Nuclear texture was evaluated by image cytometry and compared with the histone H4 acetylation level measured by western blotting and expression of c-jun gene evaluated by reverse transcription and real-time polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS

TSA treatment induced an increase in histone H4 acetylation level in both cell lines. However, at the level of chromatin texture, sensitive H69 cells displayed a progressive chromatin decondensation up to 24 h, whereas resistant H69-VP showed rapid (8 h) but transient changes. Similarly, expression of c-jun increased regularly in TSA-treated H69 cells. In H69-VP cells, an increase was also observed up to 12 h followed by a decrease after 24 h of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Analysis of nuclear texture appeared to be a sensitive technique to detect chromatin pattern alterations induced by the histone deacetylase inhibitor TSA in the H69 cell line and enabled the observation of chromatin pattern discrepancies between chemotherapeutic drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cells during this treatment. When c-jun gene expression was analyzed as gene sensitive to epigenetic control, these textural differences seemed to be correlated to gene expression.

In situ DNAse I sensitivity assay indicates DNA conformation differences between CHO cells and the radiation-sensitive CHO mutant IRS-20

The radiosensitive mutant cell line IRS-20, its wild type counterpart CHO and a derivative of IRS-20 with a transfected YAC clone (YAC-IRS) that restores radioresistance were tested for DNAse I sensitivity. The three cell lines were cultured under the same conditions and had a mitotic index of 2-5%. One drop of fixed cells from the three lines was always spread on the same microscopic slide. After one day of ageing, slides were exposed to DNAse I and stained with DAPI. Images from every field were captured and the intensity of blue fluorescence was measured with appropriate software. For untreated cells, the fluorescence intensity was similar for all of the cell lines. After DNAse I treatment, CHO and YAC-IRS had an intensity of 85% but IRS-20 had an intensity of 60%, when compared with the controls. DNAse I sensitivity differences between the cell lines indicate that overall conformation of chromatin might contribute to radiation sensitivity of the IRS-20 cells.

Cytogenetic characterization of chromosomal rearrangement in a human vinblastine-resistant CEM cell line: use of comparative genomic hybridization and fluorescence in situ hybridization

In order to identify genomic changes associated with drug-resistance acquisition, we performed R-banding karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and comparative genomic hybridization to compare a human T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia cell line, CEM-wild type, and a subline with resistance to vinblastine (CEM-VLB) and overexpressing P-glycoprotein. Comparative genomic hybridization analysis showed that the CEM-VLB cell line carried chemoresistance-associated chromosomal abnormalities (amplification of 7q11 approximately q22, losses of chromosomes 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, and 16, and deletion of 4q13 approximately qter). Fluorescence in situ hybridization identified an amplified 7q21 region translocated on the short arm of a chromosome 2. This region contained the MDR1 gene locus and probably neighboring genes, such as SRI or MDR3/ABCB4. According to previous reports, this chromosomal rearrangement occurred during drug selection and attested a resistance acquisition.

Chromatin compaction and tumor cell radiosensitivity at 2 gray

Mammalian cells at mitosis, differentiated lymphocytes, and some radiation-hypersensitive mutants in interphase contain all or a measurable portion of their chromatin in condensed/compacted form and are hypersensitive to ionizing radiation by the mechanism described by single-hit inactivation kinetics (alpha). These observations led to the investigation as to whether compacted chromatin in interphase is the target that determines the widely variable alpha-parameters and surviving fractions of 2 Gy (SF2Gy) measured for human tumor cell lines. Six cell lines whose SF2Gy ranged from 0.29 to 0.73 were used for this study. Their different radiosensitivities were associated mainly with differences in their single-hit inactivation parameters (alpha). Electron microscope images of interphase nuclei were optically scanned, and the pixel densities were digitized for quantitative analyses. A significant correlation between the percentage of nuclear pixels with densities similar to those found in mitotic chromosomes (percent compacted chromatin) and the alpha-inactivation parameters was observed. Digital analyses of electron and/or confocal microscope images of chromatin in interphase tumor cells in biopsy specimens could become a rapid assay for predicting the intrinsic radiosensitivity of tumor clonogens. This research has also identified some inhibitors of protein (histone) phosphatases that promote chromatin compaction and radiosensitize cells to 2-Gy dose fractions.

Constitutive expression of ectopic c-Myc delays glucocorticoid-evoked apoptosis of human leukemic CEM-C7 cells

Sensitivity to glucocorticoid (GC)-evoked apoptosis in lymphoid cell lines correlates closely with GC-mediated suppression of c-Myc expression. To establish a functional role for c-Myc in GC-mediated apoptosis, we have stably expressed MycER(TM), the human c-Myc protein fused to the modified ligand-binding domain of the murine estrogen receptor alpha, in GC-sensitive CEM-C7-14 cells. In CEM-C7-14 cells, MycER(TM) constitutively imparts c-Myc functions. Cells expressing MycER(TM) (C7-MycER(TM)) exhibited a marked reduction in cell death after 72 h in 100 nM dexamethasone (Dex), with 10-20-fold more viable cells when compared to the parental CEM-C7-14 clone. General GC responsiveness was not compromised, as evidenced by Dex-mediated suppression of endogenous c-Myc and cyclin D3, and induction of c-Jun and the glucocorticoid receptor. MycER(TM) also blunted Dex-mediated upregulation of p27(kipI) and suppression of the Myc target p53. In comparison to parental CEM-C7-14 cells, Dex-evoked DNA strand breaks were negligible and caspase activation was delayed, but the extent of G1 cell cycle arrest was similar in C7-MycER(TM) cells. Myc-ER(TM) did not result in permanent, complete resistance to GC however, and the GC-treated cells eventually died, indicative of redundant or interactive mechanisms in the GC-evoked lytic response of lymphoid cells. Our results emphasize the importance of c-Myc suppression in GC-evoked apoptosis of CEM-C7-14 cells.