Study on Autophagic Cell Death of Human Gastric Cancer Cells Induced by Microtubule-targeting Agents

Objective:To study the existence of non—apoptosis cell death, particularly the autophagic cell death in human gastric cancer cell lines SGC—7901 and BGC—823 induced by microtubule—targeting agents, Taxol and VCR. Methods: Apoptosis rates and cell death rates were determined by flow cytometry and tetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetry, respectively. The non—apoptosis cell death was observed after DAPI stain using fluorescent microscopy. Autophagy and autoghagic cell death were detected after acriding orange stain using flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy. Results: BGC—823 was less sensible to the apoptosis induced by Taxol or VCR, but there were some kinds of non—apoptosis cell death existence. The autophagic vacuoles were increased quickly after Taxol or VCR treated in BGC—823, and the peak of autophagy,induced by Taxol, occurred 3h—6h after medication ,but the peak of autophagy, induced by VCR, 24h. Conclusions: Microtubule—targeting agent Taxol and VCR can induce autophagy and autophagic cell death in less apoptosis—sensible cell line BGC—823.