Treatment with the anti-tumor drugs, cis-platin and mafosfamide, does not affect the structure of prekinetochores in a human breast cancer cell line. An immunofluorescence study using human anticentromere autoantibodies

Abstract The goal of the present article was to determine whether a nuclear parameter, centromere structure of interphase cells, could serve as an indicator to assess cellular damage caused by anti-tumor drugs. These were cis-platin and mafosfamide, which are widely used for the management of solid tumors. To visualize the centromeres, we probed treated and untreated cells of a human breast cancer cell line, MX-1, with a human anti-centromere serum. The serum was obtained from a scleroderma patient and detects antigens associated with prekinetochores of the decondensed chromosomes. The DNA was simultaneously displayed by a specific fluorescent dye. The cells were grown on coverslips, incuba…