Information from combined 1H and 31P NMR studies of cell extracts: differences in metabolism between drug-sensitive and drug-resistant MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

Combined analysis of both 1H and 31P NMR spectra of extracts of drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant MCF-7 human breast cancer cells enabled quantitative comparisons between the concentrations of major metabolites, as well as of their precursors. In resistant cells high energy phosphorus compounds, phosphocreatine and ATP, and also their precursors, creatine and ADP, were elevated compared to the sensitive cells. In phospholipid metabolism, the sensitive cells showed higher phosphocholine and phosphoethanolamine concentrations than the resistant cells, but choline levels were similar. These results delineated the differences in control of metabolic pathways between drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cells.