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IR spectroscopy reveals effect of non-cytotoxic doses of anti-tumour drug on cancer cells

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Abstract

Identifying early cellular events in response to a chemotherapy drug treatment, in particular at low doses that will destroy the highest possible number of cancer cells, is an important issue in patient management. In this study, we employed Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as a potential tool to access such information. We used as model the non-small cell lung cancer cell line, Calu-1. They were exposed to cytostatic doses (0.1 to 100 nM for 24, 48 and 72 h) of gemcitabine, an anti-tumour drug, currently used in treatment of lung cancer patients. In these conditions, inhibition of cell proliferation ranges from weak (≤5%), to moderate (∼23%), to high (82–95%) without affecting cell viability. Following drug treatment as a function of doses and incubation times, the spectra of cell populations and of individual cells were acquired using a bench-top IR source and a synchrotron infrared microscope. It is demonstrated that spectral cell response to gemcitabine is detectable at sublethal doses and that effects observed on cell populations are similar to those from single cells. Using cluster analysis, spectra could be classified in two main groups: a first group that contains spectra of cells exhibiting a weak or moderate proliferation rate and a second group with spectra from cells presenting a high growth inhibition. These results are promising since they show that effects of subtoxic doses can also be monitored at the single-cell level with the clinical implications that this may have in terms of patient benefit and response to chemotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Ligue contre le Cancer, Comité de la Marne. FD is a recipient of doctoral fellowship from Région Champagne-Ardenne. Supports from the Erasmus Mobility Programme, British Council, 2007/2008 and synchrotron SOLEIL project no. 99080031_20080371 are also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité MéDIAN, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, CNRS UMR 6237-MEDyC, UFR de Pharmacie, IFR53, 51 rue Cognacq-Jay, 51096, Reims Cedex, France

    Florence Draux, Pierre Jeannesson, Cyril Gobinet, Michel Manfait & Ganesh D. Sockalingum

  2. Cancer Research, University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, ST4 6QG, UK

    Josep Sule-Suso

  3. Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, Keele University, Guy Hilton Research Centre, Thornburrow Drive, Stoke on Trent, ST4 7QB, UK

    Josep Sule-Suso & Jacek Pijanka

  4. Synchrotron SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers, BP 48, Saint-Aubin, 91192, Gif sur Yvette, France

    Christophe Sandt & Paul Dumas

Authors
  1. Florence Draux
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  2. Pierre Jeannesson
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  3. Cyril Gobinet
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  4. Josep Sule-Suso
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  5. Jacek Pijanka
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  6. Christophe Sandt
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  7. Paul Dumas
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  8. Michel Manfait
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  9. Ganesh D. Sockalingum
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ganesh D. Sockalingum.

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Draux, F., Jeannesson, P., Gobinet, C. et al. IR spectroscopy reveals effect of non-cytotoxic doses of anti-tumour drug on cancer cells. Anal Bioanal Chem 395, 2293–2301 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3140-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3140-y

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