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Updated: Jun 19, 2026
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Fluorescence Microscopy for ATP Internalization Mediated by Macropinocytosis in Human Tumor Cells and Tumor-xenografted Mice
Published on: June 30, 2021
Chemotherapy induces ATP release from tumor cells
Isabelle Martins1, Antoine Tesniere, Oliver Kepp
1INSERM, U848, Villejuif, France; Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France.
Cell Cycle (Georgetown, Tex.)
|October 27, 2009
Summary
Chemotherapy triggers anticancer immune responses by inducing cancer cell death. This study shows that chemotherapeutic drugs cause cancer cells to release adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a key molecule for initiating these immune responses.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Chemotherapy can stimulate anticancer immune responses, contrary to popular belief.
- Apoptotic cell death is more effective than necrotic cell death in triggering protective anticancer immunity.
- Purinergic receptors of the P2X7 type are crucial for chemotherapy-induced anticancer immune responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the ability of various chemotherapeutic agents to induce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) release from cancer cells.
- To understand the relationship between ATP release and chemotherapy-induced apoptosis.
Main Methods:
- Measuring intracellular ATP concentrations in cancer cells treated with chemotherapeutic agents.
- Monitoring the progression of apoptosis, including mitochondrial transmembrane potential dissipation and phosphatidylserine exposure.
- Detecting extracellular ATP release during chemotherapy-induced cell death.
Main Results:
- Multiple chemotherapeutic drugs decrease intracellular ATP levels as apoptosis progresses.
- Significant ATP levels remain in advanced-stage apoptotic cells, falling to undetectable levels only during secondary necrosis.
- Chemotherapeutic agents induce the release of ATP into the extracellular space during tumor cell death.
Conclusions:
- ATP release is a common event associated with chemotherapy-induced apoptotic cell death.
- The release of ATP by cancer cells is a general correlate of cell death induced by conventional anticancer therapies.
- Understanding ATP release mechanisms could enhance chemotherapy's immunomodulatory effects.
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