Effect of Mitosis on the Resistance to Oxidative and Osmotic Stresses in Yeast

Abstract

Cancer cells are defined by abnormal and unrestricted mitotic divisions, therefore targeting mitosis is a useful strategy for cancer treatment. Two groups of drugs that are most successfully used in the treatment of several types of cancer, taxanes and vinca alkaloids, exhibit their anti-tumor effects by causing a mitotic arrest. However, not much is known about whether being arrested in mitosis affects the sensitivity of cells to tumor-related stresses, such as oxidative and osmotic stresses. In this study, we investigated whether mitosis affects the sensitivity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells to H2O2-induced oxidative stress and sorbitol-induced osmotic stress. Mitotic and G1-arrests were induced by nocodazole and alpha factor, respectively. The effects of nocodazole or alpha factor treatments on the sensitivity of wild type (WT) and MAD3 deletion (mad3Δ) strains to oxidative stress and osmotic stress were evaluated by the spotting and coloni forming unit (cfu) assays as well as detection of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Data were analyzed using Student’s t-test and expressed as standard deviation (std), p