Altered drug-stimulated ATPase activity in mutants of the human multidrug resistance protein

The characteristics of P-glycoprotein (MDR1), an ATP-dependent drug extrusion pump responsible for the multidrug resistance of human cancer, were investigated in an in vitro expression system. The wild-type and several mutants of the human MDR1 cDNA were engineered into recombinant baculoviruses and the mutant proteins were expressed in Sf9 insect cells. In isolated cell membrane preparations of the virus-infected cells the MDR1-dependent drug-stimulated ATPase activity, and 8-azido-ATP binding to the MDR1 protein were studied. We found that when lysines 433 and/or 1076 were replaced by methionines in the ATP-binding domains, all these mutations abolished drug-stimulated ATPase activity independent of the MgATP concentrations applied. Photoaffinity labeling with 8-azido-ATP showed that the double lysine mutant had a decreased ATP-binding affinity. In the MDR1 mutant containing a Gly185 to Val replacement we found no significant alteration in the maximum activity of the MDR1-ATPase or in its activation by verapamil and vinblastine, and this mutation did not modify the MgATP affinity or the 8-azido-ATP binding of the transporter either. However, the Gly185 to Val mutation significantly increased the stimulation of the MDR1-ATPase by colchicine and etoposide, while slightly decreasing its stimulation by vincristine. These shifts closely correspond to the effects of this mutation on the drug-resistance profile, as observed in tumor cells. These data indicate that the Sf9-baculovirus expression system for MDR1 provides an efficient tool for examining structure-function relationships and molecular characteristics of this clinically important enzyme.     

Levels of multidrug resistance (MDR1) P-glycoprotein expression by human breast cancer correlate with in vitro resistance to taxol and doxorubicin

Time lapse video microscopy is used to study the chronology of morphological changes and commitment to die in individual PC12 cells after induction of apoptosis. Cell death is highly asynchronous occurring over a 2- to 3-day period following serum removal; however, all cells go through three characteristic morphological phases irrespective of the time they die following serum removal. During phase 1, which lasts from 2 to 44 h, cells maintain normal morphology. Phase 2 is characterized by plasma membrane bubbling which lasts from 10 min to 40 h. Phase 3 represents the active or execution phase of apoptosis and involves dynamic whole cell body blebbing. Phase 3/execution phase has a restricted duration, lasting 96 +/- 5 min. At the end of the execution phase of apoptosis, cells die. The inherently asynchronous nature of cell death is still present in cells that are synchronized following mitosis. Daughter cells enter phase 2 synchronously but remain in phase 2 for varying periods and die at different times. Addition of serum 24-48 h after initiating apoptosis blocks death of 89% of cells in phase 1, 79% in phase 2, and 0% in phase 3. Serum rescue experiments are consistent with cells committing to die about 2-3 h prior to the onset of phase 3 (execution phase of apoptosis). These studies indicate that although apoptosis is an asynchronous process it can be defined in terms of reproducible morphological changes that can be used to place other events, such as the commitment to die, in a temporal sequence.     

Aberrant methylation of the BRCA1 CpG island promoter is associated with decreased BRCA1 mRNA in sporadic breast cancer cells

A series of N-substituted 4-amino-2,2-diphenylbutyramide derivatives was prepared as part of a search for subtype-selective antimuscarinic agents. The representative compound KRP-197, bearing a 2-methylimidazole ring as a surrogate of aliphatic amine, was found to be a highly potent and both M1- and M3-selective antimuscarinic agent.     

Are altered pHi and membrane potential in hu MDR 1 transfectants sufficient to cause MDR protein-mediated multidrug resistance?

Multidrug resistance (MDR) mediated by overexpression of the MDR protein (P-glycoprotein) has been associated with intracellular alkalinization, membrane depolarization, and other cellular alterations. However, virtually all MDR cell lines studied in detail have been created via protocols that involve growth on chemotherapeutic drugs, which can alter cells in many ways. Thus it is not clear which phenotypic alterations are explicitly due to MDR protein overexpression alone. To more precisely define the MDR phenotype mediated by hu MDR 1 protein, we co-transfected hu MDR 1 cDNA and a neomycin resistance marker into LR73 Chinese hamster ovary fibroblasts and selected stable G418 (geneticin) resistant transfectants. Several clones expressing different levels of hu MDR 1 protein were isolated. Unlike previous work with hu MDR 1 transfectants, the clones were not further selected with, or maintained on, chemotherapeutic drugs. These clones were analyzed for chemotherapeutic drug resistance, intracellular pH (pHi), membrane electrical potential (Vm), and stability of MDR 1 protein overexpression. LR73/hu MDR 1 clones exhibit elevated pHi and are depolarized, consistent with previous work with LR73/mu MDR 1 transfectants (Luz, J.G. L.Y. Wei, S. Basu, and P.D. Roepe. 1994. Biochemistry. 33:7239-7249). The extent of these perturbations is related to the level of hu MDR 1 protein that is expressed. Cytotoxicity experiments with untransfected LR73 cells with elevated pHi due to manipulating percent CO2 show that the pHi perturbations in the MDR 1 clones can account for much of the measured drug resistance. Membrane depolarization in the absence of MDR protein expression is also found to confer mild drug resistance, and we find that the pHi and Vm changes can conceivably account for the altered drug accumulation measured for representative clones. These data indicate that the MDR phenotype unequivocally mediated by MDR 1 protein overexpression alone can be fully explained by the perturbations in Vm and pHi that accompany this overexpression. In addition, MDR mediated by MDR protein overexpression alone differs significantly from that observed for MDR cell lines expressing similar levels of MDR protein but also exposed to chemotherapeutic drugs.     

MDR1 expression is associated with adverse survival in melanoma of the uveal tract

Metastatic uveal melanoma is profoundly chemoresistant and has a very poor outcome. We have previously shown that the MDR1 gene and its gene product P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which are known to cause drug resistance in cancer cells, are expressed in ocular melanoma. Overexpression of MDR1 has been associated with a poor survival in some tumor types treated by chemotherapy and in some untreated tumours. To assess whether MDR1 expression is of prognostic value in uveal melanoma, we evaluated the expression of MDR1 by immunohistochemistry in 108 cases. Three semiquantitative grades were used to evaluate positive staining. We detected MDR1 expression in 80% of cases; 28% showed grade I staining; 30%, grade II staining; and 22%, grade III staining. There was a statistically significant association (P=.004) between MDR1 expression by tumor cells and shorter survival times (n=96), which was most striking at grade III levels of expression. Multivariate analysis showed that MDR1 expression is an independent prognostic indicator of poor survival. We conclude that (1) MDR1 may be involved in chemoresistance and tumor propagation in primary uveal melanoma, and (2) increasing levels of expression are prognostically significant and may prove a useful marker of tumor invasiveness, independent of established prognostic factors.     

Functional multidrug resistance phenotype associated with combined overexpression of Pgp/MDR1 and MRP together with 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine sensitivity may predict clinical response in acute myeloid leukemia

Overexpression of P-glycoprotein (Pgp) or MDR1 mRNA has been shown to be a negative prognostic factor for clinical outcome in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, resistance to chemotherapy also occurs in the absence of Pgp overexpression. Therefore, besides Pgp expression, we have assessed the expression of MRP, a novel drug transporter gene, along with the functional multidrug-resistant (MDR) phenotype of leukemic cells. These MDR parameters are correlated with clinical outcome in individual patients. We found functional changes in fresh leukemic cells from de novo or relapsed patients similar to those reported for tumor cell lines with the MDR phenotype. These changes were reduced drug accumulation as assessed with radiolabeled doxorubicin (factor 1.6), daunomycin (factor 1.13), and vincristine (factor 1.6) in patients who were refractory to the combination treatment of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) and daunomycin or mitoxantrone as opposed to patients who had complete responses. Also, the intracellular distribution of doxorubicin fluorescence (nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio), as assessed with laser scan microscopy, was reduced 1.4-fold in blasts from refractory patients. Based on historically known clinical response to single-agent daunomycin or ara-C in the group of responding de novo AML patients, we have set a threshold level such that a defined part of the samples that had the highest drug accumulation or nuclear to cytoplasmic ratios were above this threshold value. This allowed discrimination between patients responding to daunomycin from those who were refractory to this drug. By using this threshold level, in the refractory group clinical resistance corresponded with high sensitivity with a resistant phenotype. A similar threshold was set for the data of the in vitro ara-C sensitivity test. By combining both assays for all individual patients, clinical refractoriness as well as sensitivity could be predicted with high accuracy. There appeared to be no stringent relationship between the functional MDR phenotype with expression of either Pgp (fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis) or MRP mRNA (RNase protection). However, by combining both parameters the functional MDR phenotype correlated with the overexpression of either one or both of the parameters in 94% of the samples studied. It is concluded that this combined overexpression in conjunction with functional changes for MDR drugs and ara-C reveal a correlation of MDR phenotype with clinical resistance to combination chemotherapy in AML patients and hereby may adequately predict clinical MDR in individual AML patients.     

Reversal of multidrug resistance (MDR) by aspidofractinine-type indole alkaloids

A series of indole alkaloids of the aspidofractinine-type was assessed for their potential in reversing MDR in vincristine-resistant KB cells. Of the compounds tested, kopsiflorine, kopsamine, pleiocarpine, 11-methoxykopsilongine, lahadinine A and N-methoxycarbonyl-11,12-methylenedioxy-delta 16,17-kopsinine were found to show appreciable activity.     

Drug-stimulated nucleotide trapping in the human multidrug transporter MDR1. Cooperation of the nucleotide binding domains

The human multidrug transporter (MDR1 or P-glycoprotein) is an ATP-dependent cellular drug extrusion pump, and its function involves a drug-stimulated, vanadate-inhibited ATPase activity. In the presence of vanadate and MgATP, a nucleotide (ADP) is trapped in MDR1, which alters the drug binding properties of the protein. Here, we demonstrate that the rate of vanadate-dependent nucleotide trapping by MDR1 is significantly stimulated by the transported drug substrates in a concentration-dependent manner closely resembling the drug stimulation of MDR1-ATPase. Non-MDR1 substrates do not modulate, whereas N-ethylmaleimide, a covalent inhibitor of the ATPase activity, eliminates vanadate-dependent nucleotide trapping. A deletion in MDR1 (Delta amino acids 78-97), which alters the substrate stimulation of its ATPase activity, similarly alters the drug dependence of nucleotide trapping. MDR1 variants with mutations of key lysine residues to methionines in the N-terminal or C-terminal nucleotide binding domains (K433M, K1076M, and K433M/K1076M), which bind but do not hydrolyze ATP, do not show nucleotide trapping either with or without the transported drug substrates. These data indicate that vanadate-dependent nucleotide trapping reflects a drug-stimulated partial reaction of ATP hydrolysis by MDR1, which involves the cooperation of the two nucleotide binding domains. The analysis of this drug-dependent partial reaction may significantly help to characterize the substrate recognition and the ATP-dependent transport mechanism of the MDR1 pump protein.     

Paramutation of the r1 locus of maize is associated with increased cytosine methylation

In paramutation two alleles of a gene interact so that one of the alleles is epigenetically silenced. The silenced state is then genetically transmissible for many generations. The large (220 kbp) multigenic complex R-r is paramutable: its level of expression is changed during paramutation. R-r was found to exhibit increases in its level of cytosine methylation (C-methylation) following paramutation. These C-methylation changes are localized to the 5' portions of the two genes in the complex that are most sensitive to paramutation. These methylation changes flank a small region called sigma that is thought to have been derived from a transposon named doppia. A mutant derivative of R-r that has a deletion of the sigma region fails to become methylated under conditions in which R-r is heavily methylated. This suggests that the presence of sigma sequences at the locus is required for the methylation changes that are observed following paramutation.     

Retroviral transfer of the human MDR1 gene confers resistance to bisantrene-specific hematotoxicity

In this work, we demonstrate a protective effect conferred by the human multidrug resistance gene (MDR1) to populations of the murine hematopoietic system against the toxic effects of bisantrene, a novel intercalating cytotoxic agent under investigation as an anticancer agent. In vitro, MDR1-expressing cell lines are highly cross-resistant to bisantrene, and low levels of P-glycoprotein (the MDR1 gene product cell surface protein) confer resistance to the drug. MDR1-positive mice were generated after transplantation of bone marrow cells (BMC) transduced in vitro with a MDR1 retrovirus. Control mice were transplanted with BMC transduced with the neomycin resistance gene. Administration of a single i.v. dose of 50 mg/kg of bisantrene resulted in a decrease of the total WBC count of approximately 40%. In contrast, a decrease of the total WBC count of only 17% was observed in mice transplanted with MDR1-transduced BMC. Immunofluorescence studies with cell lineage-specific monoclonal antibodies showed that bisantrene was specifically toxic for B lymphocytes and macrophages. Double-staining with MRK16 (a monoclonal antibody specific for P-glycoprotein) demonstrated that a single dose of bisantrene increased the relative number of MDR1-transduced positive B cells, macrophages, and (to some extent) granulocytes when compared to the number found in MDR1-untreated mice or the bisantrene-treated neomycin-transduced control mice. These results provide in vivo evidence that bisantrene is a hematotoxic drug capable of selecting for MDR1-transduced hematopoietic cells. Bisantrene might be useful for gene therapy as an in vivo selective agent for cells transduced with MDR1 vectors that also coexpress therapeutic genes of interest.     

Decreased activity of the multidrug resistance P-glycoprotein in acquired aplastic anaemia: possible pathophysiologic implications

To address a possible impairment of multidrug resistance mechanisms in acquired aplastic anaemia (AA), the functions of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) were respectively assessed by rhodamine 123 (Rh123) and daunorubicin (DNR) efflux in peripheral blood lymphocytes from AA patients. The proportion of Rh123-effluxing T cells was significantly decreased in AA, relative to controls. Interestingly, these changes were also present in patients with AA in remission. Conversely, Rh123 efflux in B and natural killer (NK) cells and DNR efflux in peripheral blood lymphocytes were unchanged. These data indicated that P-gp activity was decreased in AA not only during the development of the disease, but also after remission, introducing a new concept on the pathophysiology of AA by suggesting that it may contribute to drug-induced injury to haemopoietic cells in some cases of AA, by increasing the proportion of susceptible cells.     

Abrogation of mitochondrial cytochrome c release and caspase-3 activation in acquired multidrug resistance

Acquired multidrug resistance to anti-cancer agents has been associated with overexpression of the P-glycoprotein and other members of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily. The present studies demonstrate that SCC-25 cells selected for resistance to the alkylating agent cisplatin (CDDP) overexpress the anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL protein. In contrast to parental cells, the SCC-25/CDDP-resistant variant failed to exhibit activation of caspase-3, cleavage of protein kinase C delta, and other characteristics of apoptosis in response to CDDP. Similar results were obtained when SCC-25/CDDP cells were exposed to the structurally and functionally unrelated antimetabolite 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-cytosine (ara-C). Other cells selected for resistance to doxorubicin or vincristine also exhibited overexpression of Bcl-xL and failed to respond to CDDP and ara-C with activation of caspase-3. The results further demonstrate that multidrug-resistant cells exhibit a block in the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytosol and that this effect is dependent on overexpression of Bcl-xL. The demonstration that lysates from the resistant cells respond to the addition of cytochrome c with activation of caspase-3 confirms that the block in apoptosis is because of inhibition of mitochondrial cytochrome c release. These findings demonstrate that cells respond to diverse classes of anti-cancer drugs with overexpression of Bcl-xL and that this response represents another mechanism of acquired multidrug resistance.     

ATP-dependent transport of reduced glutathione on YCF1, the yeast orthologue of mammalian multidrug resistance associated proteins

The transport systems involved in the export of cellular reduced glutathione (GSH) have not been identified, although recent studies implicate a role for some of the multidrug resistance associated proteins (MRP), including MRP1 and MRP2. The present study examined the hypothesis that the yeast orthologue of MRP, Ycf1p, mediates ATP-dependent GSH transport. [3H]GSH transport was measured in vacuolar membrane vesicles isolated from a control strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (DTY165), the isogenic DTY167 strain that lacks a functional Ycf1p, and in DTY167 transformed with a 2-micrometer plasmid vector containing YCF1. GSH transport in control vacuolar membrane vesicles was mediated largely by an ATP-dependent, low affinity pathway (Km = 15 +/- 4 mM). ATP-dependent [3H]GSH transport was cis-inhibited by substrates of the yeast Ycf1p transporter and inhibited by 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid, probenecid, and sulfinpyrazone, inhibitors of MRP1 and MRP2, but was minimally affected by membrane potential or pH gradient uncouplers. In contrast, ATP-dependent GSH transport was not seen in vacuolar membrane vesicles isolated from the DTY167 yeast strain without a functional Ycf1p but was restored to near wild-type levels in the DTY167 strain transformed with YCF1 and expressing the vacuolar Ycf1p transporter. On the other hand, expression and functional activity of a bile acid transporter, Bat1p, and of the V-type ATPase were similar in all three yeast strains. These results provide direct evidence for ATP-dependent low affinity transport of GSH by the yeast Ycf1p transporter. Because of the structural and functional homology between Ycf1p and MRP1 and MRP2, these data support the hypothesis that GSH efflux from mammalian cells is mediated by these membrane proteins.