Ophiobolin-O reverses adriamycin resistance via cell cycle arrest and apoptosis sensitization in adriamycin-resistant human breast carcinoma (MCF-7/ADR) cells

Mar Drugs. 2013 Nov 14;11(11):4570-84. doi: 10.3390/md11114570.

Abstract

Multidrug-resistance is a major obstacle facing cancer chemotherapy. This paper demonstrates that novel compound Ophiobolin-O reverses MCF-7/ADR resistance to adriamycin (ADM). The IC50 of ADM treated MCF-7 cells was 2.02 ± 0.05 µM and 74.00 ± 0.18 µM treated MCF-7/ADR cells, about 37-fold, compared to the former. However, 0.1 µM Ophiobolin-O (less than 20% inhibition concentration) combined with ADM caused the decreased IC50 of ADM to 6.67 ± 0.98 µM, indicating it reversed ADM resistance of MCF-7/ADR cells (11-fold). Furthermore, Ophiobolin-O increased ADM-induced mitochondrial pathway apoptosis and G2/M phase arrest, which is partly due to the elevation level of ROS in MCF-7/ADR cells. As we described in this paper, the reversal effect of Ophiobolin-O may be due to the reduction of resistance-related protein P-Glycoprotein (P-gp, also known as MDR1) through inhibiting the activity of the multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene promoter, which makes MCF-7/ADR cells more sensitive to ADM treatment. Assays in nude mice also showed that the combination of ADM and Ophiobolin-O significantly improved the effect of ADM.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis / drug effects*
  • Cell Cycle Checkpoints / drug effects*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / drug effects*
  • Humans
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Sesterterpenes / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Sesterterpenes
  • ophiobolin O
  • Doxorubicin