title: Verapamil upregulates sensitivity of human colon and breast cancer cells to LAK-cytotoxicity in vitro.
abstract: Pretreatment of human colon cancer LoVo-H cells and human breast cancer ZR-75 1A cells with low doses of verapamil, a Ca2+ channel blocker, for 48 h has a slight growth stimulatory effect and substantially increases cell sensitivity to lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) mediated cytotoxicity in the standard 51Cr release assay. The role of intracellular Ca2+ levels in determining verapamil effect is demonstrated by cytochemical evidence of intracellular Ca2+ lowering in verapamil-treated cells and by the reversal by the Ca2+ ionophore A-23187 of verapamil-induced sensitivity to LAK-mediated cytotoxicity.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Oncologia Medica, II Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università Federico II, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Correale
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tagliaferri
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Celio
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Genua
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montagnani
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Bianco
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D000001:Calcimycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015979:Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated / Q000276:immunology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000276:immunology; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D014700:Verapamil / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000001:Calcimycin; D014700:Verapamil; D002118:Calcium