In vitro digital cell image analysis of morphonuclear modifications induced by natural DNA-interacting anticancer drugs in three neoplastic cell lines.

The effects of seven natural anticancer drugs acting through interaction with DNA were characterized at three levels: cell proliferation, cell cycle kinetics and chromatin texture. These drug-induced effects were monitored in vitro by means of the digital cell image analysis which provides 15 morphonuclear parameters. In terms of cell proliferation, results show that the drug-induced effects ranged from 10(-11)M to 10(-6)M. With respect to the cell cycle kinetics, the results show that the drugs induced an accumulation of the cells in the G2 phase. Concerning the chromatin levels, the results show that it is possible to classify the drugs according to their mechanism of action on the basis of the multivariate analysis of the 15 parameters.