THE DOSE-DEPENDENT EFFECT OF ANTI-MICROTUBULE DRUGS ON CANCER CELLS

Abstract

Drugs inhibiting microtubule dynamics are widely used in the treatment of various types of cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms are not fully investigated. The aim of this thesis is to study drug- and dose-dependent effect of the inhibitors of microtubule drugs on the cancer cells by treating them with the wide range of concentrations anti-microtubule drugs and observing the fate of mitotic cells directly under microscope. This will allow us to obtain systematic knowledge on the threshold concentrations of anti-microtubule drugs, which will open new prospects in disentangling molecular mechanisms of the action of these drugs. In this work two distinct effects of anti-microtubule drugs were investigated, and they were quantified with introducing the concept of minimal mitostatic concentration, and novel second threshold concentration.