In:
Nature Precedings, Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Abstract:
In the present study an important phenomenon of cells was discovered: the change of intracellular density in cell & apos;s response to drug and environmental factors. For convenience, this phenomenon is named as & quot;density alteration in non-physiological cells & quot; ( DANCE). DANCE was determined by discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation (DSGC), in which cells were separated into several bands. The number and position of the bands in DSGC varied with the change of cell culture conditions, drugs, and physical process, indicating that cell & apos;s response to these factors was associated with alteration of intracellular density. Our results showed that the bands of cells were molecularly different from each other, such as the expression of some mRNAs. For most cells tested, intracellular density usually decreased when the cells were in bad conditions, in presence of drugs, or undergoing pathological changes. However, unlike other tissue cells, brain cells showed increased intracellular density in 24 hrs after the animal death. In addition, DANCE was found to be related to drug resistance, with higher drug-resistance in cells of lower intracellular density. Further study found that DANCE also occurred in microorganisms including bacteria and fungus, suggesting that DANCE might be a sensitive and general response of cells to drugs and environmental change. The mechanisms for DANCE are not clear. Based on our study the following causes were hypothesized: change of metabolism mode, change of cell membrane function, and pathological change. DANCE could be important in medical and biological sciences. Study of DANCE might be helpful to the understanding of drug resistance, development of new drugs, separation of new subtypes from a cell population, forensic analysis, and importantly, discovery of new physiological or pathological properties of cells.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1756-0357
DOI:
10.1038/npre.2011.6541.1
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2011
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2637018-9
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