[Embelin Reverses the Multi-drug Resistance of K562/D to Daunorubicin Independently of P-gp and MDR1 mRNA].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of reversing drug resistance of K562/D cells to daunorubicin by Embelin and its relationship with P-gp and MDR1 mRNA. METHODS: MTT assay was used to detect and compare the cell proliferation rate of treating with DNR alone and DNR combined with Embelin. Flow cytometry with Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining was used to detect cell apoptosis rate, Western blot was used to detect the expression of XIAP,Caspase-3,BCL-2,BAX and P-gp of K562/D cells after using DNR alone and combining with Embelin. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect XIAP,BCL-2,BAX and MDR1 mRNA. RESULTS: The IC50 of K562 and K562/D cells treated with DNR for 24 h were 2.177 µg/ml and 69.43 µg/ml, respectively. The drug-resistance index was 31.89; The proliferation inhibition rates of K562/D cells treated with Embelin of 3, 10, 30, 100 and 300 µg/ml for 24 h were 2.70%±1.08%, 10.92%±4.89%, 28.13%±2.09%, 36.56%±3.24% and 43.59%±1.16%; The proliferation inhibition rates of K562/D cells treated with DNR of 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 µg/ml combined with 10 µg/ml Embelin for 24 h were 31.92%±3.29%, 49.57%±6.87%, 55.16%±0.78% and 71.94%±3.89%. The IC50 was 2.11 µg/ml respectively. The reverse index was 32.91. The apoptosis rates of K562/D cells treated with 0.1 µg/ml DNR alone or combined with Embelin of 10 µg/ml and 30 µg/ml for 24 h were 12.06%±0.95%, 27.54%±0.59% and 39.59%±1.57%, respectively. The results of Western blot showed that after combination of DNR with Embelin, the expression of Caspase-3 was significantly down-regulated (P<0.05), moreover, the prolifiration inhibition effect of drug combination on cells could be countreacted by Z-VAD-FMK, at the same time the expression of XIAP and BCL-2 protein was significantly down-regulated(P<0.05), the expression of BAX protein was significantly up-regulated(P<0.05), while there was no change of P-gp expression later (P<0.05). The results of RT-PCR showed that after combination of DNR with Embelin, expression of XIAP and BCL-2 mRNA was significantly down-regulated(P<0.05), expression of BAX mRNA was significantly up-regulated(P<0.05), while there was no obvious change of MDR1 mRNA expression(P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The down-regulation of XIAP contributes to enhance the effect of DNR on K562/D cells, the mechanism of Embelin-reversing the drug-resistence of K562/D cells to DNR does not relate with P-gp and MDR1 mRNA.

[Latest advances of research on autophagy and leukemia treatment].

Autophagy, as a conservative self-degradative approach of eukaryotic cells, plays an important role in cellular growth, proliferation,differentiation, death and keeping intracellular steady state. On one hand, autophagy can protect tumor cells to keep survival; on the other hand, autophagy can lead to apoptosis of leukemia cells. The double-edged impacts of autophagy make it to be the hotspot for research on mechanism and treatment of leukemia. This article reviews the diverse effects of autophagy in different leukemia cell lines, as well as its corresponding mechanism resulting in drug resistance, so as to provide theoretic guide for direct rational application of drugs according to their various mechnisms.