Implications of oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage in the response of colon cancer cells to cisplatin

摘要

The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage in the response of colon cancer cells to cisplatin. Cell growth, antioxidant enzymatic activities and mitochondrial markers were analysed using spectrophotometric, fluorimetric and real-time PCR determinations in SW-620 and HT-29 colon cancer cell lines. Twenty-four-hour treatment of colon cancer cells with cisplatin (10 mug/mL) resulted in intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation, greater cellular protein oxidation, lower catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities, and increased mitochondrial damage. The antioxidant sodium ascorbate (1 mM) suppressed growth inhibition and counteracted the decrease in mitochondrial cardiolipin content induced by cisplatin in HT-29 and SW-620 cells. In conclusion, our results show that oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage are required for antitumor activity of cisplatin in colon cancer cells.