Multidrug Resistance In Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells Research Articles

Suppression of mrp1 expression and restoration of sensitivity to chemotherapy in multidrug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines HepG2/mrp1 by RNA interference in vitro

Objective To investigate the suppression of mrp1 and MRP1 induced by small interfering RNA and the restoration of sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs in the multidrug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines HepG2/mrp1. Methods mrp1-targeted small interfering RNA duplexes were designed and composed and introduced into multidrug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines HepG2/mrp1. The suppression of mrp1 mRNA and its gene product MRP1 was examined by RT-PCR and flow cytometry (FCM), respectively. MTT assay was performed to measure the reverse effect of small interfering RNA based on the results of ICs0. Results The overexpression of mrp1 mRNA and MRP1 was effectively suppressed by small interfering RNAs. The level of mrp1 mRNA in the transfected HepG2/mrp1 cells was reduced to (86.36±2.76)% and MRP1 to (89.38±3.76)%compared with those of the controls. The resistance to ADR was reversed five-fold, which indicated the restoration of sensitivity to drugs. Conclusion Small interfering RNA can inhibit mrp1 expression effectively and reverse the multidrug resistance mediated by MRP1. Key words: Multidrug resistance; RNA interference; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Multidrug resistance-associated protein

Novel EGFR-TK Inhibitor EKB-569 Inhibits Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Proliferation by AKT and MAPK Pathways

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapies have been effective in some cancers, but not in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the drug potential to overcome multi-drug resistance in HCC cells. Thirteen drug-sensitive HCC cells were assessed using the CCK-8 assay. G0-G1 arrest was measured by FACS. Western blot analysis was used to detect the key enzymes in both the Ras/Raf and PI3K pathways. When establishing the IC50 of HCC to several drugs, including EKB-569, sorafenib, erlotinib, gefitinib, pazopanib, and brivanib, SK-Hep1 cells treated with EKB-569 have shown the highest (72.8%-86.4%) G0-G1 arrest and decreased the phosphorylation of AKT and ERK at the protein level. We found that EKB-569 had higher efficacy in HCC, compared to first generation, reversible EGFR-TK inhibitors. Furthermore, the combination of sorafenib and EKB-569 showed a synergistic effect to inhibit proliferation of SNU-475, previously the most resistant cell to EGFR-TKIs. Therefore, novel EKB-569 in combination with sorafenib may be able to overcome HCC resistance to EGFR-TK inhibitors.

Down-regulation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 activity in P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cells

To study the expression and phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1 and ERK2 in multidrug resistant (MDR) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. MDR HCC cell lines, HepG2/adriamycin (ADM) and SMMC7721/ADM, were developed by exposing parental cells to stepwise increasing concentrations of ADM. MTT assay was used to determine drug sensitivity. Flow cytometry was employed to analyze cell cycle distribution and measure cell P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multidrug resistant protein 1 (MRP1) expression levels. ERK1 and ERK2 mRNA expression levels were measured by quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR). Expression and phosphorylation of ERK1 and ERK2 were analyzed by Western blot. MTT assay showed that HepG2/ADM and SMMC7721/ADM were resistant not only to ADM, but also to multiple anticancer drugs. The P-gp expression was over 10-fold higher in HepG2/ADM cells than in HepG2 cells (8.92% +/- 0.22% vs 0.88% +/- 0.05%, P < 0.001) and over 4-fold higher in SMMC7721/ADM cells than in SMMC7721 cells (7.37% +/- 0.26% vs 1.74% +/- 0.25%, P < 0.001). However, the MRP1 expression was not significantly higher in HepG2/ADM and SMMC7721/ADM cells than in parental cells. In addition, the percentage of MDR HepG2/ADM and SMMC7721/ADM cells was significantly decreased in the G0/G1 phase and increased in the the S phase or G2/M phase. QRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the ERK1 and ERK2 mRNA expression increased apparently in HepG2/ADM cells and decreased significantly in SMMC7721/ADM cells. Compared with the expression of parental cells, ERK1 and ERK2 protein expressions were markedly decreased in SMMC7721/ADM cells. However, ERK2 protein expression was markedly increased while ERK1 protein expression had no significant change in HepG2/ADM cells. Phosphorylation of ERK1 and ERK2 was markedly decreased in both HepG2/ADM and SMMC7721/ADM MDR cells. ERK1 and ERK2 activities are down-regulated in P-gp-mediated MDR HCC cells. ERK1 or ERK2 might be a potential drug target for circumventing MDR HCC cells.

Reversal of the multidrug resistance in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells by recombinant adenoviral delivery of the MRP antisense RNA in vitro

To explore the effect of multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) antisense RNA mediated by recombinant adenoviruses on reversal of the multidrug resistance in human drug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. The HCC cells were first treated in vitro by the recombinant adenoviruses containing antisense MRP. Chemosensitivity of all of the cells to ADM and DNR was determined by MTT assay. The levels of the MRP mRNA and its product P190 were measured by RT-PCR and flow cytometry (FCM) respectively according to the time after transfection. The accumulation of the DNR in these cells was analyzed by FCM simultaneously. IC50 of the cells infected by Ad-Asmrp to ADM and DNR was 0.487 microg/ml and 0.328 microg/ml respectively, with the factors of resistance (RF) decreased by 36.8 and 35.4 respectively (P < 0.05). Continuous decrease in levels of MRP mRNA and P190 was observed 24 h and 48 h after infection respectively (P < 0.01). The intracellular DNR accumulation was increased simultaneously in the Ad-Asmrp transfectants (P < 0.001). MRP antisense RNA mediated by recombinant adenoviruses could increase chemosensitivity and partially reverse the MDR in HCC cells in vitro by inhibit expression of MRP gene. The study would provide experimental basis for the reversal of MDR in HCC by antisense RNA technology mediated by recombinant adenoviruses.

CIK cells from patients with HCC possess strong cytotoxicity to multidrug-resistant cell line Bel-7402/R

To investigate the cytotoxicity of the cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells from the post-operation patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to multidrug-resistant (MDR) cell of HCC both in vitro and in vivo. A drug-resistant cell line was established by culturing human HCC cell line Bel-7402 in complete RPMI 1640 medium with increasing concentrations of adriamycin from 10 to 2,000 nmol/L. CIK cells were obtained by inducing the peripheral blood mononuclear cells with rhIFN-gamma, monoclonal anti-CD3 antibody, rhIL-1alpha as well as rhIL-2, which were added into the culture. To detect the cytotoxicity of the CIK cells from HCC patients, the Bel-7402/R was taken as target (T) cells and CIK cells as effect (E) cells. Cytotoxic test was performed and measured by MTT. As to in vivo test, CIK cells were transfused into patients with HCC. The tumor specimens of the patients were obtained and immunohistochemistry was carried out to detect CD3, CD45, CD45RO as well as CD68. A MDR 1 HCC cell line Bel-7402/R was established. Its MDR1 mRNA overexpressed which was shown by RT-PCR; the P-glycoprotein expression increased from 1.32% of parent cells to 54%. CIK cells expanded vigorously by more than 70-fold and the CD3+CD56+ increased by more than 600-fold after 3-wk incubation on average. The cytotoxicity of CIK from HCC patients to Bel-7402/R was about 50% and to L-02 below 10% (t = 8.87, P<0.01), the same as that of CIK from normal individuals. Each of the 17 patients received 1-5 x 10(10) of CIK cell transfusion. No side effects were observed. After CIK treatment, the tumor tissue nodules formed and a large amount of lymphocytes infiltrated in the liver cancer tissue and CD3, CD45, CD45RO, and CD68 increased greatly which was shown by immunohistochemistry. A stable MDR1 HCC cell line has been established which could recover from liquid nitrogen and CIK from HCC patients has strong cytotoxicity to MDR HCC cell. CIK adoptive immunotherapy is safe and has no side effects. Receivers improved their immunity to tumor evidently. CIK treatment may be a better choice for HCC patients after operation to prevent the recurrence, especially when tumors have developed drug resistance.

Apoptosis is induced in both drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant hepatoma cells by somatostatin analogue TT-232.

Clinical resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs is an important problem in the treatment of cancer; the circumvention of resistance has become one of the basic goals of cancer therapy. The most frequent form of primary liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma, which is essentially refractory to chemotherapy. We earlier showed that TT-232, a new somatostatin analogue developed in our laboratory, exerted a strong antiproliferative effect both in vitro and in vivo, but no growth hormone release inhibitory or antisecretory activity. Here we report that TT-232 has a pronounced antiproliferative effect on differentiated and dedifferentiated, drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. TT-232 induces apoptosis at comparable levels in all these hepatoma variants demonstrating that the multidrug resistance of hepatomas does not correlate with a reduced susceptibility to apoptosis induction. These results clearly reveal that the machinery involved in apoptosis is functional in both drug-sensitive and resistant hepatoma variants and can be activated by the somatostatin analogue TT-232. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign