Real-time measurements of cellular oxygen consumption, pH, and energy metabolism using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Changes in molecular expression or apoptotic behavior, induced by malignant transformation or anticancer treatment, are frequently reflected in cellular metabolism and oxygen consumption. A technique to monitor oxygen consumption, cell physiology, and metabolism noninvasively would provide a better understanding of interactions between molecular changes and metabolism in malignant transformation and following cancer treatment. Such a system was developed in this study by adapting multinuclear MRI and spectroscopic techniques to an isolated cell perfusion system. The system was evaluated by studying the effects of two agents, carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) which is an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation, and antimycin, an inhibitor of oxidative phosphorylation, on the oxygen consumption and metabolism of MCF-7 and MatLyLu cancer cell lines.