Curcumin reverses multidrug resistance of human hepatocellular carcinoma bel7402/5-FU cells

AIM: To investigate whether curcumin reverses multidrug resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma drug-resistant cell line Bel7402/5-FU and to explore potential mechanisms involved.

METHODS: The cell line Bel7402 was induced to form a multidrug resistant cell subline Bel7402/5-FU by exposing increasing concentrations of fluorouracil (5-FU). The sensitivity of Bel7402 and Bel7402/5-FU cells to chemotherapeutics and curcumin were tested by MTT assay. The protein levels of multi-resistance related protein 1 (MRP1), lung resistance-related protein (LRP), p-glycoprotein (P-gp) and programmed cell death 5 (PDCD5) were detected by Western blotting in Bel7402 cells, Bel7402/5-FU cells and Bel7402/5-FU cells treated with different concentrations of curcumin.

RESULTS: The Bel7402/5-FU cell line showed cross-resistance to six drugs, among which 5-FU had the highest RI. The protein expression levels of MRP1, LRP and P-gp in Bel-7402/5-FU cells were obviously higher than those in Bel7402 cells, while the expression of PDCD5 protein in Bel7402/5-FU cells was lower than that in Bel7402 cells. The expression of MRP1, LRP and P-gp proteins was down-regulated after curcumin treatment, while the PDCD5 protein was significantly increased.

CONCLUSION: Curcumin can reverse multidrug resistance of the Bel7402/5-FU cell line via mechanisms possibly associated with down-regulation of MRP1, LRP and P-gp expression and up-regulation of PDCD5 expression.