Spatial and Temporal Changes in Bid and Bax Subcellular Localization During Cisplatin-Induced Apoptosis

Cancer cell apoptosis can be induced by cisplatin, an efficient anticancer agent. Bid and Bax, members of the Bcl-2 family, are essential regulators of apoptosis. Bid and Bax are normally found in the cytosol of healthy cells, and translocate to mitochondria during apoptosis. Using real-time single-cell analysis, we have investigated the kinetics of Bid and Bax distribution during cisplatin-induced apoptosis in human lung adenocarcinoma cells (ASTC-a-1). In our study, tBid translocated from cytoplasm to mitochondria, occurring at about 6.5 h after treated with 20 muM cisplatin, and lasted about 1.5 h. Bax redistribution occurred at about 7.5 h after treated with cisplatin, and then sequestered into clusters associated with the mitochondira within 30 min. Our data clearly showed the spatial and temporal changes in Bid and Bax distribution in living cells during cisplatin-induced apoptosis.