Dominik Zietkowski1, Eszter Nagy2,
Margaret A. Mobberley3, Geoffrey S. Payne4, Timothy A.
Ryder3, Nandita M. de Souza4
1CRUK & EPSRC Cancer
Imaging Centre , The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, United
Kingdom; 2Section of Molecular Carcinogenesis, The Institute of
Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom; 3Department of
Cellular Pathology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, United
Kingdom; 4CRUK & EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre, The Institute of
Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom
This study compares mobile lipid resonances (MLR) in paclitaxel exposed cells undergoing apoptosis or mitotic arrest to explore their utility as a biomarker of drug resistance. Paclitaxel-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells is associated with an increase in MLR, especially in unsaturated fatty acids, which contain the diallyl group indicating poly-unsaturation and with an increase in number and size of lipid droplets. When resistant cells progress beyond mitosis, they accumulate less saturated and unsaturated lipids in smaller droplets than sensitive lines. Western blots of synthetic and catabolic enzymes showed that both processes contribute to observed increases in MLR.