This is a basic science question. Does anyone have a definition of oncosis
which differentiates this method of cell death from apoptosis, including
morphological and/or biochemical hallmarks? I have been treating HT29
(human colon adenocarcinoma) cells with a potential antitumor drug and I
don't think this agent is killing the cells by apoptosis. Others in my
group do not agree. The cells start to swell after 24-48 hours of
treatment and by 96 hours the most of the culture is dead. At no point in
the time course do the cells demonstrate true positive TUNEL results. I
have only looked at DNA laddering once and got ambiguous results, i.e., I
think I looked at too late of a time point.
Any and all comments/suggestions would be appreciated before I repeat any
more experiments. Thanks!
Lisa Adams
Pharmacia & Upjohn
Kalamazoo, MI
LAADAMS@am.pnu.com