Viability effects on cell cycle synchronization of different prostate cancer cell lines: A brief report

Abstract

Aim: Serum deprivation is often used to synchronize cells in G0/G1 phase for comparative in vitro studies. Here we aimed to investigate the effect on viability of the three commonly used prostate cancer-cell lines PC3, LNCaP and DU145 after serum deprivation.

Methods: The cell lines were cultured in standard culture medium (controls) and under serum deprivation for 48 and 72 h. Then the proportion of cells in G0/G1 phase was analysed by flow cytometry and cell morphology was microscopically investigated. The cells were allowed to recover for three days in standard culture condition before cell viability (using MTT assay) was analysed.

Results: In comparison to control cells, significant effects on cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase were noted for DU145 and PC3 cells and the cell morphology was negatively affected in a time-dependent manner. These parameters were unaffected in LNCaP cells. After three days of recovery, the viability of DU145 and PC3 cells was significantly reduced compared to LNCaP.

Conclusions: Serum deprivation showed different effects on the prostate cancer cells, probably due to differences in growth rate. Such effects on viability should be considered as an obstacle for comparative studies.