RESUMO
ABCB1-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) remains a major obstacle to successful chemotherapy in ovarian cancer. Herein, afatinib at nontoxic concentrations significantly reversed ABCB1-mediated MDR in ovarian cancer cells in vitro (p < 0.05). Combining paclitaxel and afatinib caused tumor regressions and tumor necrosis in A2780T xenografts in vivo. More interestingly, unlike reversible TKIs, afatinib had a distinctive dual-mode action. Afatinib not only inhibited the efflux function of ABCB1, but also attenuated its expression transcriptionally via down-regulation of PI3K/AKT and MAPK/p38-dependent activation of NF-κB. Furthermore, apart from a substrate binding domain, afatinib could also bind to an ATP binding domain of ABCB1 through forming hydrogen bonds with Gly533, Gly534, Lys536 and Ala560 sites. Importantly, mutations in these four binding sites of ABCB1 and the tyrosine kinase domain of EGFR were not correlated with the reversal activity of afatinib on MDR. Given that afatinib is a clinically approved drug, our results suggest combining afatinib with chemotherapeutic drugs in ovarian cancer. This study can facilitate the rediscovery of superior MDR reversal agents from molecular targeted drugs to provide a more effective and safer way of resensitizing MDR.
Assuntos
Resistência a Múltiplos Medicamentos/efeitos dos fármacos , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos/efeitos dos fármacos , Neoplasias Ovarianas/tratamento farmacológico , Quinazolinas/farmacologia , Subfamília B de Transportador de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/antagonistas & inibidores , Subfamília B de Transportador de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/genética , Subfamília B de Transportador de Cassetes de Ligação de ATP/metabolismo , Afatinib , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Sobrevivência Celular/efeitos dos fármacos , Sobrevivência Celular/genética , Resistência a Múltiplos Medicamentos/genética , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos/genética , Feminino , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Humanos , Immunoblotting , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Camundongos Nus , Proteínas Quinases Ativadas por Mitógeno/metabolismo , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Estrutura Molecular , NF-kappa B/genética , NF-kappa B/metabolismo , Neoplasias Ovarianas/genética , Neoplasias Ovarianas/metabolismo , Fosfatidilinositol 3-Quinases/metabolismo , Quinazolinas/química , Interferência de RNA , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa , Homologia de Sequência de Aminoácidos , Transdução de Sinais/efeitos dos fármacos , Ensaios Antitumorais Modelo de XenoenxertoRESUMO
Paclitaxel (PTX, taxol), a classical antitumor drug against a wide range of tumors, shows poor oral bioavailability. In order to improve the oral bioavailability of PTX, glycyrrhizic acid (GA) was used as the carrier in this study. This was the first report on the preparation, characterization and the pharmacokinetic study in rats of PTX-loaded GA micelles The PTX-loaded micelles, prepared with ultrasonic dispersion method, displayed small particle sizes and spherical shapes. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) thermograms indicated that PTX was entrapped in the GA micelles and existed as an amorphous state. The encapsulation efficiency was about 90%, and the drug loading rate could reach up to 7.90%. PTX-loaded GA micelles displayed a delayed drug release compared to Taxol in the in vitro release experiment. In pharmacokinetic study via oral administration, the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0â24 h) of PTX-loaded GA micelles was about six times higher than that of Taxol (p < 0.05). The significant oral absorption enhancement of PTX from PTX-loaded GA micelles could be largely due to the increased absorption in jejunum and colon intestine. All these results suggested that GA would be a promising carrier for the oral delivery of PTX.
