Plecstatin-1 Induces an Immunogenic Cell Death Signature in Colorectal Tumor SpheroidsÂ
Wernitznig et al.
Metallomics, 2021
DOI: 10.1039/D0MT00227E
This study, which investigates the influences of plecstatin-1 in cancer cells, demonstrates that LA-ICP-TOFMSÂ imaging with the icpTOF is a viable clinical diagnostic tool.
Metallodrugs, such as plecstatin-1, are promising candidates in the treatment of different types of cancer. How these drugs interact with tumor cells and activate the immune system is still not fully understood. Wernitznig et al. present a multi-method investigation to better understand the influence of plecstatin-1 on tumor cells. The icpTOF 2R was used for high-resolution laser ablation imaging with inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-TOFMS) to determine the multi-element distribution in multicellular tumor spheroids after treatment with plecstatin-1. The elemental images were acquired at a rate of 100 pixels per second and a spatial resolution of 2.5 µm. Highest ruthenium accumulation was observed within proliferating cells in the outer rim of the spheroid sections, in comparison to quiescent cells in the center. In addition to ruthenium, several elements of biological importance were quantified by LA-ICP-TOFMS. For example, the distribution of phosphorus followed the same pattern as that of ruthenium, with higher levels in proliferating cells and lower levels in quiescent cells. Proliferating cells also displayed higher levels of magnesium and calcium.Â
