Two-step formation of 1H NMR visible mobile lipids during apoptosis of paclitaxel-treated K562 cells

Despite increasing evidence on the formation of 1H NMR-detectable mobile lipid (ML) domains in cells induced to programmed cell death by continuous exposure to anticancer drugs, the time course of ML generation during the apoptotic cascade has not yet been fully elucidated. The present study shows that ML formation occurs at two different stages of apoptosis induced in human erythroleukemia K562 cells by a brief (3hr) exposure to paclitaxel (Taxol), an antitumour drug with a stabilising effect on microtubules, or to paclitaxel plus tyrphostin AG957, a selective inhibitor of the p210BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase activity. A first wave of ML generation was in fact detected in paclitaxel-treated cells at the onset of the effector phase (8-24hr after exposure to the drug), plateaued at 24-48hr and was eventually followed by further ML accumulation during the degradative phase (48-72hr). Addition of AG957 to paclitaxel shifted to the 3-8hr interval in both the early ML production and the onset of apoptotic events, such as chromatin condensation, phosphatidylserine externalisation, cytochrome c release and caspase-3 activation. A significant loss of mitochondrial membrane potential was almost concomitant with the second wave of ML accumulation, associated in both cell systems with the phase of terminal cell degeneration, likely connected to non-regulated degradation of cell lipid components. © 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.