D2O-Probed Raman Microspectroscopy Distinguishes the Metabolic Dynamics of Macromolecules in Organellar Anticancer Drug Response

Anal Chem. 2021 Feb 2;93(4):2125-2134. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c03925. Epub 2021 Jan 12.

Abstract

To profile the metabolic dynamics responding to drugs at the single-cell/organelle resolution, rapid and economical mechanism-revealing methods are required. Here, we introduced D2O-probed Raman microspectroscopy in combination with the multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS or MCR) algorithm. Exploiting MCR to deconvolute each macromolecular component specifically, the method is able to track and distinguish changes in lipid and protein metabolic activities in a human cancer cell line (MCF-7) and in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in response to the metabolism-inhibitory effect of rapamycin, which inhibits the mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. Under rapamycin, in the lipid bodies of cancer cells, metabolic activities of both protein and lipid are suppressed; in the nucleus, protein synthesis remains active, whereas lipid synthesis is inhibited; in the cytoplasm, syntheses of protein and lipid are both dose- and duration-dependent. Thus, rapamycin differentially influences protein and lipid synthesis in mTOR signaling. Moreover, the strong correlation between macromolecular-specific components of yeast and those in MCF-7 cytoplasm, nucleus, and lipid bodies revealed similarity in rapamycin response. Notably, highly metabolically active cancer cells after high-dosage rapamycin exposure (500 or 5000 × IC50) were revealed, which escape detection by population-level cytotoxicity tests. Thus, by unveiling macromolecule-specific metabolic dynamics at the organelle level, the method is valuable to mechanism-based rapid screening and dissection of drug response.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Deuterium Oxide*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal / drug effects
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / drug effects
  • Humans
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Macromolecular Substances / metabolism*
  • Organelles / drug effects*
  • Organelles / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / drug effects
  • Sirolimus / pharmacology*
  • Spectrum Analysis, Raman / methods*
  • Stress, Physiological / drug effects

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Deuterium Oxide
  • Sirolimus