Microbeam X-ray fluorescence mapping of Cu and Fe in human prostatic carcinoma cell lines using synchrotron radiation

Abstract

Cancer is a worldwide public health problem and prostate cancer continues to be one of the most common fatal cancers in men. Copper plays an important role in the aetiology and growth of tumours however, whether intratumoral copper is actually elevated in prostate cancer patients has not been established. Iron, an important trace element, plays a vital function in oxygen metabolism, oxygen uptake, and electron transport in mitochondria, energy metabolism, muscle function, and hematopoiesis. The X-ray microfluorescence technique (μXRF) is a rapid and non-destructive method of elemental analysis that provides useful elemental information about samples without causing damage or requiring extra sample preparations. This study investigated the behavior of cells in spheroids of human prostate cells, tumour cell line (DU145) and normal cell line (RWPE-1), after supplementation with zinc chloride by 24 hours using synchrotron X-ray microfluorescence (μSRXRF). The measurements were performed with a standard geometry of 45º of incidence, excited by a white beam using a pixel of 25 μm and a time of 300 ms/pixel at the XRF beamline at the Synchrotron Light.