Cell-cycle fate-monitoring distinguishes individual chemosensitive and chemoresistant cancer cells in drug-treated heterogeneous populations demonstrated by real-time FUCCI imaging

In the present study, we utilized the fluorescence ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator (FUCCI) imaging system to investigate the correlation between cell-cycle behavior and apoptosis after treatment of cancer cells with chemotherapeutic drugs. HeLa cells expressing FUCCI were treated with doxorubicin (DOX) (5 μM) or cisplatinum (CDDP) (5 μM) for 3 h.

Cell-cycle progression and apoptosis were monitored by time-lapse FUCCI imaging for 72 h. Time-lapse FUCCI imaging demonstrated that both DOX and CDDP could induce cell cycle arrest in S/G 2 /M in almost all the cells, but a subpopulation of the cells could escape the block and undergo mitosis. The subpopulation which went through mitosis subsequently underwent apoptosis, while the cells arrested in S/G 2 /M survived.