Quantitative analysis of cisplatin sensitivity of human esophageal squamous cancer cell lines using in-air micro-PIXE

Tanaka, Naritake*; Kimura, Hitoshi*; Faried, A.*; Sakai, Makoto*; Sano, Takaaki*; Inose, Takanori*; Soda, Makoto*; Okada, Koji*; Nakajima, Masanobu*; Miyazaki, Tatsuya*; Fukuchi, Minoru*; Kato, Hiroyuki*; Asao, Takayuki*; Kuwano, Hiroyuki*; Sato, Takahiro; Oikawa, Masakazu*; Kamiya, Tomihiro; Arakawa, Kazuo*

We examined the intracellular localization of cisplatin, a key chemotherapeutic agent, in esophageal cancer cell lines and determined their sensitivity to cisplatin using in-air micro-PIXE. Two human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cell lines, TE-2 and TE-13, were examined for their response to cisplatin using MTT assay, flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation assays. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was also used to evaluate the mRNA expression of multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2) in both cell lines. Platinum localizations of intracellular and intranuclear were measured using in-air micro-PIXE. TE-2 cells were more sensitive to cisplatin than TE-13 cells. The results of this study suggest that in-air micro-PIXE could be a useful quantitative method for evaluating the cisplatin sensitivity of individual cells. Finally, we speculate that MRP2 in the cell membrane may play an important role in regulating cisplatin sensitivity of ESCC cells.