SiRNA-Mediated Knockdown of ABCB1 Enhances the Efficacy of Doxorubicin and Vinorelbine in Breast Cancer Cells.

Abstract

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women, primarily attributed to the formidable challenge of multidrug resistance, often driven by the overexpression of the ABCB1 gene. This study aimed to assess the synergistic effects of siRNA, doxorubicin, and vinorelbine on ABCB1 gene expression and cell viability in doxorubicin-resistant MCF-7/ADR breast cancer cells, with siRNA targeting ABCB1 to reduce its expression and doxorubicin/ vinorelbine to eradicate cancer cells. Our methodology involved culturing MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADR cells in standard cell culture conditions. The synthesized siRNA sequences transfected cells with siRNA at final concentrations of 10, 20, and 30 nM and assessed cell viability using the MTT assay was performed. Real-time PCR was employed to quantify ABCB1 mRNA expression levels. Results indicated that MCF-7/ADR cells exhibited substantial resistance to vinorelbine and doxorubicin compared to MCF-7 cells, displaying resistance at 12.50 μM and 25.00 μM for vinorelbine and 6.25 μM and 25.00 μM for doxorubicin. Remarkably, siRNA treatment effectively reversed drug resistance in MCF-7/ADR cells across all concentrations of vinorelbine and doxorubicin tested. When combined, siRNA, doxorubicin, and vinorelbine yielded a significantly greater reduction in cell viability compared to individual drug treatments, particularly at a 20 μM siRNA concentration. This combination therapy also significantly suppressed ABCB1 gene expression by a factor of 41.48 in MCF-7 cells relative to MCF-7/ADR cells. these findings suggest that combining siRNA, doxorubicin, and vinorelbine holds promise as a therapeutic strategy to overcome ABCB1-mediated multidrug resistance in breast cancer. Further investigations and clinical trials are warranted to evaluate its clinical efficacy rigorously.