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Intratumoral heterogeneity, which is manifested in almost all of the hallmarks of cancer, including the significantly altered metabolic profiles of cancer cells, represents a challenge to effective cancer therapy. High-throughput measurements of the metabolism of individual cancer cells would allow direct visualization and quantification of intratumoral metabolic heterogeneity, yet the throughputs of current measurement techniques are limited to about 120 cells per hour. Here, we show that single-cell photoacoustic microscopy can reach throughputs of approximately 12,000 cells per hour by trapping single cells with blood in an oxygen-diffusion-limited high-density microwell array and by using photoacoustic imaging to measure the haemoglobin oxygen change (that is, the oxygen consumption rate) in the microwells. We demonstrate the capability of this label-free technique by performing high-throughput single-cell oxygen-consumption-rate measurements of cultured cells and by imaging intratumoral metabolic heterogeneity in specimens from patients with breast cancer. High-throughput single-cell photoacoustic microscopy of oxygen consumption rates should enable the faster characterization of intratumoral metabolic heterogeneity.

Most cancer deaths are a consequence of resistance to conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This may be attributable to unique phenotypic characteristics of solid tumors. We have exploited two well-described characteristics of solid tumors commonly associated with treatment failure, high glucose use and hypoxia, to design a unique therapy based on the selective accumulation of two cytotoxic compounds, 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) and copper(II)diacetyl-bis(N(4)-methylthiosemicarbazone) ((64)Cu-ATSM). (64)Cu-ATSM localizes to hypoxic regions of tumors and has been used for administering a high local dose of radiation therapy after uptake by cells. 2-DG, a glucose analog, selectively accumulates in cancer cells and interferes with energy metabolism, resulting in cancer cell death. 2-DG has been shown to potentiate the cytotoxic effect of ionizing radiation and certain chemotherapeutic agents. We have tested the effect of 2-DG on tumor response when combined with (64)Cu-ATSM in a mouse breast tumor model using the highly aggressive mouse mammary carcinoma cell line EMT-6. 2-DG administered up to 2 mg/g of body weight daily resulted in no weight loss or systemic symptoms. EMT-6 mammary tumors had similar uptake of [(18)F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose before and after 2 weeks of 2-DG treatment as determined by microPET imaging, indicating that resistance to 2-DG uptake does not develop. Pretreatment of tumor-bearing mice with 2-DG resulted in increased uptake of (64)Cu-ATSM by tumors compared with nontreated mice. This effect was not observed with the nonhypoxia-specific agent copper(II)pyruvaldehyde-bis(N(4)-methylthiosemicarbazone. When 2-DG was combined with a single dose of (64)Cu-ATSM (2 mCi), tumor growth was inhibited approximately 60% compared with untreated mice, and animals survived approximately 50% longer than untreated mice or animals treated with each agent alone (32 versus 20 days). The maximum effect on tumor growth and survival was observed when 2-DG was administered daily for the lifetime of the mouse. Our results indicate that 2-DG potentiates the effect of (64)Cu-ATSM on tumoricidal activity and animal survival. We hypothesize that 2-DG alters the metabolic state of the cell, leading to increased uptake of (64)Cu-ATSM by the tumor. This would result in a higher local dose of radiotherapy. The continued presence of 2-DG would then prevent the repair of damaged cells, leading to inhibition of tumor growth. Our data indicate that the strategy of combining tumor-specific cytotoxic agents that function by differing mechanisms can result in an effective, selective, tumor-specific cell death with minimal effect on the host.

Exposure to ionizing radiation is believed to cause cell injury via the production of free radicals that are thought to induce oxidative damage. It has been proposed that exposure to agents that enhance oxidative stress-induced injury by disrupting thiol metabolism may sensitize cells to the cytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation. Recently, it has been shown that glucose deprivation selectively induces cell injury in transformed human cells via metabolic oxidative stress (J. Biol. Chem., 273: 5294-5299; Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 899: 349-362), resulting in profound disruptions in thiol metabolism. Because 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) is a potent inhibitor of glucose metabolism thought to mimic glucose deprivation in vivo, the hypothesis that exposure to 2DG might be capable of inducing radiosensitization in transformed cells via perturbations in thiol metabolism was tested. When HeLa cells were exposed to 2DG (4-10 mM) for 4-72 h, cell survival decreased (20-90%) in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. When HeLa cells were treated with 6 mM 2DG for 16 h before ionizing radiation exposure, radiosensitization was observed with a sensitizer enhancement ratio of 1.4 at 10% isosurvival. Treatment with 2DG was also found to cause decreases in intracellular total glutathione content (50%). Simultaneous treatment with the thiol antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC; 30 mM) protected HeLa cells against the cytotoxicity and radiosensitizing effects of 2DG, without altering radiosensitivity in the absence of 2DG. Furthermore, treatment with NAC partially reversed the 2DG-induced decreases in total glutathione content, as well as augmented intracellular cysteine content. Finally, the cytotoxicity and radiosensitizing effects of 2DG were more pronounced in v-Fos-transformed versus nontransformed immortalized rat cells, and this radiosensitization was also inhibited by treatment with NAC. These results support the hypothesis that exposure to 2DG causes cytotoxicity and radiosensitization via a mechanism involving perturbations in thiol metabolism and allows for the speculation that these effects may be more pronounced in transformed versus normal cells.