Induction of polyploid nuclei in the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum by platinum antitumor compounds.

The intranuclear mitosis of the plasmodial nuclei of myxomycetes permits the observation of defects in chromosomal repartition which would probably be lethal in other eukaryotic cells with open mitosis. We found that antitumoral platinum-amine compounds perturbed late mitotic events and induced the formation of giant nuclei which were polyploid in plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum. Using 26 platinum-amine complexes, we have shown that all antitumoral compounds induced the formation of polyploid nuclei for drug concentrations at least three times lower than the amount necessary to block the overall plasmodial growth, whereas platinum compounds without antitumor activity did not behave this way. DNA replication appeared to be quantitatively normal during formation of giant nuclei by antitumoral compounds. These observations suggest that platinum-amine compounds exert their antitumor activity by interfering with mitosis rather than by a gross inhibition of DNA synthesis.