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Research of the relationship of intracellular acidification and apoptosis in Hela cells based on pH nanosensors

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Abstract

In this paper, the relationship of intracellular acidification and apoptosis in Hela cells induced by vincristine sulfate has been studied by use of the ratiometric pH nanosensors that have been developed by our group, employing fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) doped as the pH-sensitive dye and Tris(2,2′-bipyidyl) dichlororuthenium(II) hexahydrate (RuBpy) doped as reference dye. The pH change of the Hela cells induced by vincristine sulfate has been monitored in vivo, in situ and real time by use of the ratiometric pH nanosensors. The experimental results show that the pH of the apoptotic Hela cells induced by vincristine sulfate has been acidified from 7.11 to 6.51, and the percentage of intracellular acidification is correlated with the induced concentration and incubation time of the vincristine sulfate. The further study of the percentage of intracellular acidification and the percentage of apoptosis of Hela cells at the same time reveals that apoptosis of Hela cells induced by vincristine sulfate is preceded by intracellular acidification. These results would provide theoretical foundation for the therapy of cancer through interfering the pH of cells by use of vincristine sulfate or other anti-cancer drugs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Institute of Biological Technology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    He XiaoXiao, Wang Yan, Wang KeMin, Peng JiaoFeng, Liu Fang & Tan WeiHong

  2. Engineering Center for Biomedicine, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    He XiaoXiao, Wang Yan, Wang KeMin, Peng JiaoFeng, Liu Fang & Tan WeiHong

  3. Institute of Life Science and Biological Technology, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    He XiaoXiao, Wang KeMin & Tan WeiHong

  4. Engineering Research Center for Bio-Nanotechnology of Hunan Province, Changsha, 410082, China

    He XiaoXiao, Wang Yan, Wang KeMin, Peng JiaoFeng, Liu Fang & Tan WeiHong

Authors
  1. He XiaoXiao
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  2. Wang Yan
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  3. Wang KeMin
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  4. Peng JiaoFeng
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  5. Liu Fang
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  6. Tan WeiHong
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wang KeMin.

Additional information

Supported by the Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20135010), the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2002CB513100-10), the Key Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2003BA310A16), the High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2003AA302250), the International Cooperation Key Project of Science and Technology Ministry (Grant No. 2003DF000039) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20405005)

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He, X., Wang, Y., Wang, K. et al. Research of the relationship of intracellular acidification and apoptosis in Hela cells based on pH nanosensors. SCI CHINA SER B 50, 258–265 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-007-0012-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-007-0012-1

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