U937 variant cells as a model of apoptosis without cell disintegration

Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters

Sandra Pinto¹  Patrycja Koszałka²  Jacek Jerzy Bigda⁴  Magda Wejda²  Grzegorz Stasiłojć²  Jose Enrique O’Connor¹  Martyna Filipska²  Ewa M. Słomińska³  Julian Świerczyński³  Roksana Wyszkowska² 

[1] Cytomics Laboratory, Mixed Unit University of Valencia — Prince Felipe Research Center, Valencia, Spain$$;Department of Cell Biology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG-MUG, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland$$;Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland$$;Department of Cell Biology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology UG-MUG, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland$$Department of Cell Biology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland$$

关键词: Apoptosis;    U937 cells;    Apoptotic bodies;    Cell disintegration;   

DOI  :  10.2478/s11658-013-0087-y

学科分类：分子生物学，细胞生物学和基因

来源: Uniwersytet Wroclawski * Wydzial Biotechnologii / University of Wroclaw, Faculty of Biotechnology

【 摘 要 】

The variant cell line U937V was originally identified by a higher sensitivity to the cytocidal action of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) than that of its reference cell line, U937. We noticed that a typical morphological feature of dying U937V cells was the lack of cellular disintegration, which contrasts to the formation of apoptotic bodies seen with dying U937 cells. We found that both TNFα, which induces the extrinsic apoptotic pathway, and etoposide (VP-16), which induces the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, stimulated U937V cell death without cell disintegration. In spite of the distinct morphological differences between the U937 and U937V cells, the basic molecular events of apoptosis, such as internucleosomal DNA degradation, phosphatidylserine exposure on the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane, caspase activation and cytochrome c release, were evident in both cell types when stimulated with both types of apoptosis inducer. In the U937V cells, we noted an accelerated release of cytochrome c, an accelerated decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, and a more pronounced generation of reactive oxygen species compared to the reference cells. We propose that the U937 and U937V cell lines could serve as excellent comparison models for studies on the mechanisms regulating the processes of cellular disintegration during apoptosis, such as blebbing (zeiosis) and apoptotic body formation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown