Selective growth-inhibition of multidrug-resistant CHO-cells by the monoclonal antibody 265/F4

P-glycoprotein and its inhibition in tumors by phytochemicals derived from Chinese herbs

P-glycoprotein belongs to the family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. It functions in cellular detoxification, pumping a wide range of xenobiotic compounds, including anticancer drugs out of the cell. In cancerous cells, P-glycoprotein confers resistance to a broad spectrum of anticancer agents, a phenomenon termed multidrug resistance. An attractive strategy for overcoming multidrug resistance is to block the transport function of P-glycoprotein and thus increase intracellular concentrations of anticancer drugs to lethal levels. Efforts to identify P-glycoprotein inhibitors have led to numerous candidates, none of which have passed clinical trials with cancer patients due to their high toxicity. The search for naturally inhibitory products from traditional Chinese medicine may be more promising because natural products are frequently less toxic than chemically synthesized substances. In this review, we give an overview of molecular and clinical aspects of P-glycoprotein and multidrug resistance in the context of cancer as well as Chinese herbs and phytochemicals showing inhibitory activity towards P-glycoprotein.

Reversal of doxorubicin-resistance in sarcoma 180 tumor cells by inhibition of different resistance mechanisms

Resistance of tumor cells to doxorubicin is a multifactorial phenomenon. In the present investigation, the ability of resistance modifiers against different resistance mechanisms was analysed. Substances which block P-glycoprotein (P-170) function circumvented resistance of doxorubicin-resistant sarcoma 180 (S180) cells completely (verapamil, thioridazine) or partially (hycanthone), whereas inhibitors of glutathione S-transferase (ethacrynic acid, N-ethylmaleimide, buthionine sulfoximine), and protein kinase C (staurosporine, acridine orange) caused only a partial reversion of resistance. In contrast, an inhibitor of alkaline phosphatase (levamisole) did not overcome doxorubicin-resistance. These results indicate that P-glycoprotein blockers might be more effective to modulate doxorubicin-resistance of S180 cells as compared to other modifiers. Further investigations using other MDR cell lines are required to clarify the generality of these findings.

Antibodies in the study of multiple drug resistance

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major problem in cancer chemotherapy. As P-glycoprotein is the key molecule in MDR, many investigators have constructed anti-P-glycoprotein monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Those antibodies, including MRK16 and C219, were used for elucidation of the mechanism of MDR and for overcoming of MDR. This article describes the characterization of the antibodies against the P-glycoprotein and other proteins of multidrug-resistant tumor cells, and discusses the therapeutic implication of the antibodies.

Antibody-directed therapy of multidrug-resistant tumor cells

The major obstacle to effective cancer chemotherapy is the resistance of tumor cells to cytostatic agents. Tumor cells frequently express a multidrug-resistance (MDR) phenotype. In an effort to devise new strategies to overcome MDR, antibody-directed approaches for the eradication of MDR cells have been developed. Experimental data have shown that multidrug-resistant tumor cells can be efficiently killed by monoclonal antibodies, immunotoxins, or bispecific antibodies. The current experimental results indicate that an antibody-directed therapeutic approach to eradication of MDR cells might be a promising adjunct to conventional chemotherapy of cancer patients.