Kupffer cell-mediated oxidative stress on colon cancer cell line visualized by digital imaging fluorescence microscopy

Temporal and spatial changes of lipid peroxides in a cultured colon cancer cell line, Colo-205 cells, were investigated after culturing with Kupffer cells by using 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate and a digital imaging processor equipped with an inverted microscope. By this method, we successfully visualized the alteration of lipid peroxides in the individual cancer cell. Without any prior activation, Kupffer cells isolated from an intact rat liver caused rapid increase in the intensity of dichlorofluorescein in tumor cells in a time-dependent manner. The increase of the fluorescent intensity was significantly attenuated by pretreatment with superoxide dismutase. In ex vivo study using isolated perfused rat liver, dichlorofluorescin-preloaded cancer cells, which were transportally injected, were found to adhere to hepatic sinusoids and then to enhance their fluorescence. The present study suggested that the resident Kupffer cell-derived oxidative stress participates in the cytotoxic process against cancer cells by inducing intracellular lipid peroxidation. It may be sustained that Kupffer cells play a role in the host defence mechanisms against the liver metastasis of colon cancer cells.