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Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent

BACKGROUND: Cancer cells exhibit elevated levels of glucose uptake and may obtain pre-formed, diet-derived fatty acids from the bloodstream to boost their rapid growth; they may also use nucleic acid from their microenvironment. The study of processing nucleic acid by cancer cells will help improve...

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Autores principales: Kong, Yanping, Zhang, Xianbo, Zhao, Yongliang, Xue, Yanfang, Zhang, Ye
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5251232/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28109303
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40659-017-0107-x
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author Kong, Yanping
Zhang, Xianbo
Zhao, Yongliang
Xue, Yanfang
Zhang, Ye
author_facet Kong, Yanping
Zhang, Xianbo
Zhao, Yongliang
Xue, Yanfang
Zhang, Ye
author_sort Kong, Yanping
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Cancer cells exhibit elevated levels of glucose uptake and may obtain pre-formed, diet-derived fatty acids from the bloodstream to boost their rapid growth; they may also use nucleic acid from their microenvironment. The study of processing nucleic acid by cancer cells will help improve the understanding of the metabolism of cancer. DNA is commonly packaged into a viral or lipid particle to be transferred into cells; this process is called transfection in laboratory. Cancer cells are known for having gene mutations and the evolving ability of endocytosis. Their uptake of DNAs might be different from normal cells; they may take in DNAs directly from the environment. In this report, we studied the uptake of DNAs in cancer cells without a transfection reagent. METHODS: A group of DNA fragments were prepared with PCR and labeled with isotope phosphorous-32 to test their uptake by Huh 7 (liver cancer) and THLE3 (normal liver cells) after incubation overnight by counting radioactivity of the cells’ genomic DNA. Multiple cell lines including breast cancer and lung cancer were tested with the same method. DNA molecules were also labeled with fluorescence to test the location in the cells using a kit of “label it fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)” from Mirus (USA). RESULTS: The data demonstrated that hepatocellular carcinoma cells possess the ability to take in large DNA fragments directly without a transfection reagent whereas normal liver cells cannot. Huh7 and MDA-MB231 cells displayed a significantly higher Rhodamine density in the cytoplasmic phagosomes and this suggests that the mechanism of uptake of large DNA by cancer cells is likely endocytosis. The efficacy of uptake is related to the DNA’s size. Some cell lines of lung cancer and breast cancer also showed similar uptake of DNA. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, we have revealed the evidence that some cancer cells, but not nontumorigenic cells, can take DNA fragments directly from the environment without the aid of the transfecting reagent.
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spelling pubmed-52512322017-01-26 Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent Kong, Yanping Zhang, Xianbo Zhao, Yongliang Xue, Yanfang Zhang, Ye Biol Res Research Article BACKGROUND: Cancer cells exhibit elevated levels of glucose uptake and may obtain pre-formed, diet-derived fatty acids from the bloodstream to boost their rapid growth; they may also use nucleic acid from their microenvironment. The study of processing nucleic acid by cancer cells will help improve the understanding of the metabolism of cancer. DNA is commonly packaged into a viral or lipid particle to be transferred into cells; this process is called transfection in laboratory. Cancer cells are known for having gene mutations and the evolving ability of endocytosis. Their uptake of DNAs might be different from normal cells; they may take in DNAs directly from the environment. In this report, we studied the uptake of DNAs in cancer cells without a transfection reagent. METHODS: A group of DNA fragments were prepared with PCR and labeled with isotope phosphorous-32 to test their uptake by Huh 7 (liver cancer) and THLE3 (normal liver cells) after incubation overnight by counting radioactivity of the cells’ genomic DNA. Multiple cell lines including breast cancer and lung cancer were tested with the same method. DNA molecules were also labeled with fluorescence to test the location in the cells using a kit of “label it fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)” from Mirus (USA). RESULTS: The data demonstrated that hepatocellular carcinoma cells possess the ability to take in large DNA fragments directly without a transfection reagent whereas normal liver cells cannot. Huh7 and MDA-MB231 cells displayed a significantly higher Rhodamine density in the cytoplasmic phagosomes and this suggests that the mechanism of uptake of large DNA by cancer cells is likely endocytosis. The efficacy of uptake is related to the DNA’s size. Some cell lines of lung cancer and breast cancer also showed similar uptake of DNA. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, we have revealed the evidence that some cancer cells, but not nontumorigenic cells, can take DNA fragments directly from the environment without the aid of the transfecting reagent. BioMed Central 2017-01-21 /pmc/articles/PMC5251232/ /pubmed/28109303 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40659-017-0107-x Text en © The Author(s) 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Kong, Yanping
Zhang, Xianbo
Zhao, Yongliang
Xue, Yanfang
Zhang, Ye
Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent
title Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent
title_full Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent
title_fullStr Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent
title_full_unstemmed Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent
title_short Uptake of DNA by cancer cells without a transfection reagent
title_sort uptake of dna by cancer cells without a transfection reagent
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5251232/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28109303
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40659-017-0107-x
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AT xueyanfang uptakeofdnabycancercellswithoutatransfectionreagent
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