Clastogenic effects of streptozotocin on human colon cancer cell lines with gene amplification

ALEJANDRO DANIEL BOLZAN; MARTHA S. BIANCHI

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PATHOLOGY, TOXICOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY : OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CANCER.

BEGELL HOUSE INC

Año: 2003 vol. 22 p. 281 - 286

0731-8898

We investigated the clastogenic effects of the methylating agent streptozotocin (STZ) on two human colon cancer cell lines. COLO320DM and COL0O20HSR are cell lines derived from a human neuroendocrine colon carcinoma. STZ produced a dose-dependent increase in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in both cell lines (p < 0.05) and induced fragmentation and/or pulverization of COLO320DM and COLO320HSR chromosomes. This effect was dose and time dependent. Severe chromosome damage was also found in cells that had progressed beyond the first metaphase, and a higher percentage of metaphases showing pulverized chromosomes were found in cells after the second than after the first division. This seems to indicate that STZ has a persistent and delayed clastogenic effect on COLO320DM and COLO320HSR cells. In addition, STZ produced a marked depression of the mitotic index in both cell lines. These results demonstrate that human colon cancer cell lines COLO320DM and COLO320HSR are highly sensitive to STZ, and suggest that this antibiotic has a good potential as a chemotherapeutic agent for colon cancer.