Potent induction of human colon cancer cell uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs by N-myristoylated protein kinase C-alpha (PKC-alpha) pseudosubstrate peptides through a P-glycoprotein-independent mechanism.
Phorbol ester protein kinase C (PKC) activators and PKC isozyme over-expression have been shown to significantly reduce intracellular accumulation of chemotherapeutic drugs, in association with the induction of multidrug resistance (MDR) in drug-sensitive cancer cells and enhancement of drug resistance in MDR cancer cells. These observations constitute solid evidence that PKC plays a significant role in the MDR phenotype of cancer cells. PKC-catalyzed phosphorylation of the drug-efflux pump P-glycoprotein was recently ruled out as a contributing factor in MDR. At present, the sole drug transport-related event that has been identified as a component of the role of PKC in MDR is PKC-induced expression of the P-glycoprotein-encoding gene mdr1. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that PKC can modulate the uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer cells independently of P-glycoprotein. We analyzed the effects of selective PKC activators/inhibitors on the uptake of radiolabelled cytotoxic drugs by cultured human colon cancer cells that lacked P-glycoprotein activity and did not express the drug efflux pump at the level of message (mdr1) or protein. We found that the selective PKC activator 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) significantly reduced uptake of [14C] Adriamycin and [3H] vincristine in human colon cancer cells devoid of P-glycoprotein activity, and that PKC-inhibitory N-myristoylated PKC-alpha pseudosubstrate synthetic peptides potently and selectively induced uptake of the cytotoxic drugs in the phorbol ester-treated and non-treated colon cancer cells. TPA treatment of the cells did not induce expression of either P-glycoprotein or its message mdr1. In contrast with [14C]Adriamycin and [3H] vincristine uptake, [3H] 5-fluorouracil uptake by the cells was unaffected by TPA and reduced by the PKC-inhibitory peptides. These results indicate that PKC activation can significantly reduce the uptake of multiple cytotoxic drugs by cancer cells independently of P-glycoprotein, and that N-myristoylated PKC-alpha pseudosubstrate peptides potently and selectively induce uptake of multiple cytotoxic drugs in cultured human colon cancer cells by a novel mechanism that does not involve P-glycoprotein and may involve PKC isozyme inhibition. Thus, N-myristoylated PKC-alpha pseudosubstrate peptides may offer a basis for the development of agents that reverse intrinsic drug resistance in human colon cancer.
Bergman
P J
PJ
Department of Cell Biology, U.T.M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
Gravitt
K R
KR
Ward
N E
NE
Beltran
P
P
Gupta
K P
KP
O'Brian
C A
CA
D020168:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000378:metabolism; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000378:metabolism; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000378:metabolism; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple / Q000502:physiology; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D000076250:Myristoylated Alanine-Rich C Kinase Substrate; D011506:Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014750:Vincristine / Q000378:metabolism
D020168:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1; D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D000076250:Myristoylated Alanine-Rich C Kinase Substrate; D014750:Vincristine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D005472:Fluorouracil