In this work we induced microcells in human cancer cell (SK-MEL-28 and HeLa) lines and human fibroblasts (HS-68) used chemotherapeutic drugs DOX and PTX acting to cells 24 h. We observed that microcells also occur HeLa cells after 6 h 7.5% methanol treatment.
Similarly to microcells, Raju cells, nucleolar aggresomes (NoAs), and Bonghan microcells (BH-MCs) have also been observed in cancer cell lines after anticancer treatment. Sundaram et al. have observed the cell formation of mitotic colonies on the monolayer in a cell culture after treatment with etoposide (VP-16) or X-rays [
38]. On day 14 after treatment initiation, from the mother cell in a process called neosis, the number of Raju cells raised to approximately 10, with a diameter of 6–10 μM; however, only 8% of them were unable to survive [
38]. Raju cells are able to live for 8 weeks after mitotic crisis, after new Raju cell formation from polyploid cells [
38]. Another study showed that after treatment with VP-16, NoAs are formed on day five; these NoA cells were shown to contain fibrillarin, rDNA, and pericentric heterochromatin [
39]. Unlike microcells and Raju cells, BH-MCs have observed in normal tissues, such as the small intestines and blood cell leukocytes of rats [
40]. A BH-MC is a small-sized cell with the ability to divide and pluripotent differencing features, similar to adult stem cells [
40]. The differences between microcells and BH-MCs are that microcells are generated from cancer cells, whereas BH-MCs form from micronucleation during normal physiological processes [
4,
40].
The differences between microcells, Raju cells, and NoAs are that microcells develop from macrocells 24–48 h after antitumor treatment [
4], whereas Raju cells and NoAs develop from the polyploid cell tree up to 7 days after anticancer treatment [
8,
38,
39]. Elevated microcell phagocytic ability has observed using carmine red and Indian ink, suggesting their metabolic activity [
24]. Microcell formation is a rare process that occurs in less than 1 % of cases [
24]. The number of microcells in the population of cell lines considered was small, approximately 1%. Drug-tolerant persister (DTP) cancer cell populations that constitute approximately 0.3–5% of the initial cell population after erlotinib drug are described in other studies [
20,
41]. DTP cells are characterized as non-genetic anticancer drug-resistant cells, especially against chemotherapy [
20,
41]. Numerous anticancer drugs, such as paclitaxel and doxorubicin, which were used in this study, as well as methanol, cause cell stress, which creates DNA damage and damage to cellular membranes, interrupting cell homeostasis, and inducing apoptosis [
42‐
44]. The cell membrane after treatment with UV radiation and DOX or PTX becomes permeable [
43,
45], and it becomes easier to transfect a plasmid DNA into the cells. To avoid damage, cells transform their architecture to a spherical shape during mitosis; this process is controlled by changes in the actin cytoskeleton. However, repairing DNA damage during mitosis is dangerous to cells and could incorrectly affect the results with chromatids separated in anaphases, thus promoting genome instability and cancer genesis [
46]. The development and homeostasis in an organism enable apoptosis, a fundamental and complex biological process that destroys unwanted damaged cells [
47]. A typical apoptosis scene shows blebbing of the plasma membrane, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, which includes chromatin parts on the nuclear membrane, and formation of apoptotic bodies [
33]. Although an enormous amount of data indicate that cytotoxic drugs induce and activate apoptosis initiation machinery and the cellular stress response, many questions remain unanswered. For instance, the opinion that apoptosis represents the principle of the mechanism by which tumor cells are killed as a result of cancer therapy may not be universally true, as previously proposed by Herr and Debatin [
48]. Microcells are small-sized, round or oval cells with small cytoplasm. Microcells increase in count after 24 h of treatment with anticancer drugs; the highest number of microcells was observed 48 h after applying chemotherapy, with the microcells tending to increase in number after chemotherapy, irradiation, or immunotherapy [
4,
8]. There is a hypothesis that a microcell forms from a perished macrocell [
8]. We showed that in the early stages of microcell formation, cells mainly contain proteins (Fig.
2). ANS solution is a universal and widely used compound for the study of proteins [
49]. When microcells are completely formed, nucleic acid is detectable as well (Fig.
3B). The microcell formation under applied therapy is observed in the other research, where is shown that the microcell contain ribosome like particles, nucleus with pronounced functional activity [
50]. As it is seen in electron microscopy image (Fig.
8), the microcell has specific organelles characteristic to viable cell. DNA damage, which is caused by oxidative stress, promotes tumorigenesis [
51]. The metabolic activity of these cells can be demonstrated by a NADPH test. NADPH performs duties as an antioxidant substrate for the thioredoxin and glutathione antioxidant systems, thereby reducing the level of hypoxia in a cell [
18,
52]. Paclitaxel, as an anticancer drug, is not only involved in the hyper-stabilization of microtubules and the inhibition of cytoskeletal restructuration, an increase in metabolic oxidative stress and NADPH oxidase is also associated with paclitaxel’s anticancer effect [
53]. NADPH, as a reducing agent, is required for anti-oxidative defense systems—it is a universal electron donor in reductive biosynthesis and detoxification of the cell [
15]. We observed a decrease in NADPH activity after anticancer treatment and identified microcells with high NADPH activity. NADPH is produced by metabolically active cells, and this enzyme indicates cell viability [
54,
55]. Moreover, this indicates that microcells are metabolically active after PTX treatment. For the NADPH test we used 1 min pre-fixation with 4% formaldehyde solution to reduce activity of NADPH diaphorase activity as NADPH activity in the microcell is very strong. This indicates the rising metabolism of the mircocell after the applied stress. Abid et al. described NADPH oxidase requirement for endothelial cell proliferation and migration activity [
56]. NADPH has an essential role in reducing ribonucleotides into deoxyribonucleotides by ribonucleotide reductase; accordingly, it is involved in DNA synthesis by implication [
15]. Newly formed microcells are easier to transfect, as they show EGFP expression similarly to other cells. In some research, cancer cells uptake DNA molecules from the cultivation medium to which they are added, more so than non-cancer cells [
57,
58]. As described by Kong et al., cancer cell molecule uptake occurs through endocytosis, and this process does not occur in normal cells [
57]. In other research, it has been proven that nanoparticles accumulate in cancer microcells, and that microcells have higher endocytosis capability [
9]. There are drug-tolerant cancer cells without phenotypic mutation, and these cells are able to proliferate after applying therapy. However, there is a subpopulation that could be a rare mutation causing drug resistance, and these cells can proliferate during anticancer drug effects [
19,
59]. In our research, we observed microcell induction, and the number of microcells increased 48 h after applying chemotherapy. In further research, it is important to pay attention to this cell type as a feature of the mechanism of drug resistance or drug-tolerant cells.