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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

chemotherapy, cancer, apoptosis, membrane physical properties

College

Life Sciences

Department

Physiology and Developmental Biology

Abstract

Many chemotherapeutic agents treat cancer by inducing programmed cell death (apoptosis) in the tumor. One of the consequences of apoptosis is changes in the physical properties of the cell membrane. Some of these changes are important for other phagocytic cells to recognize and remove the dying cells thereby preventing an inflammatory response. However, other physical changes convert the membrane from its normal state of resistance to hydrolytic attack by enzymes present in the blood to a state of susceptibility. If this susceptibility precedes removal of the apoptotic cells by phagocytes, a harmful inflammatory response could potentially occur. Whether cells become susceptible to hydrolysis early during chemotherapy-induced death is currently unknown. This project will test the hypothesis that apoptosis stimulated by cancer chemotherapeutic agents causes the membrane to become susceptible to hydrolytic attack before it is prepared for removal by phagocytes. It will also explore the nature of the membrane changes and whether they involve the action of intracellular enzymes (“caspases”) associated with the apoptosis process.

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