Gene Expression of Enzymes Related to Glutathione Metabolism in Anticancer Drug-resistant L1210 Sublines

Abstract

Glutathione(GSH) has a very important role in detoxification of cells and is closely related to antitumor drug-resistance of cancer cells. In order to evaluate the importance of glutathione metabolism in the drug-resistant cancer cells, the concentration of celluar GSH and activities of -glutamylcysteine synthetase(GCS), -glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and glutathione S-transferases(GST) in the adriamycin, vincristine, or cisplatin resistant L1210 (L1210AdR, L1210VcR, or L1210Cis) sublines were measured. Expression and amplification of GCS, GGT, and GST- genes were also observed in the parent Ll210 and the drug-resistant Ll210 sublines. The concentration of GSH was increased 5.34 fold in L1210Cis, 2.83 fold in L1210VcR, and 1.78 fold in L1210AdR, compared to L1210. The activities of GCS and GGT were increased in drug-resistant L1210 sublines. The GST activity was increased in L1210VcR and L1210Cis but decreased in L1210AdR compared to Ll210. Expression of GCS, GGT, and GST- genes were increased in the resistant L1210 sublines compare to the parent L1210 in northern blot analyses. Overexpression of GCS, GGT, and GST- were observed in the resistant sublines, and the increases of the concentration of glutathione and the activities of GCS and GGT in the resistant sublines may be involved in a part of the drug-resistance in the resistant sublines.