title: Role of the Raf signal transduction cascade in the in vitro resistance to the anticancer drug doxorubicin.
abstract: The precise molecular events involved in the development of drug resistance (DR) remain largely unknown. Raf is an intermediate in the signal transduction cascades initiated by growth factors. The hypothesis behind the following studies is that deregulated Raf-1 expression plays a role in the development of drug resistance. A positive correlation was observed between increased Raf-1 activity and increased values for IC50 for doxorubicin in established cell lines. The National Cancer Institute/Adriamycin Resistant (NCI/ADR-RES) cell line exhibited both the highest Raf-1 activity and the highest IC50 values for doxorubicin (Adriamycin). In contrast, the MCF-7 cell line exhibited both lower Raf activity and lower IC50 values for doxorubicin. While MCF-7 cells transfected with either constitutively active DeltaRaf-1 or conditionally active DeltaRaf-1:AR demonstrated increased IC50 values for doxorubicin and a reduced capacity to undergo apoptosis after doxorubicin treatment as compared with parental cell lines. Moreover, growth curves performed show that both the constitutively and conditionally active forms of Raf-1 do not increase growth as compared with the parental MCF-7 cell line. This is important because it implies that higher cell counts between Raf transfectants and the parental MCF-7 cell line are attributable to differences in DR, not growth rates. These observations suggest a role for the Raf-1 protooncogene in the regulation of DR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858, USA.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Weinstein-Oppenheimer
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Henríquez-Roldán
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Navolanic
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Steelman
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McCubrey
mesh_terms: D017304:Annexin A5 / Q000378:metabolism; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015870:Gene Expression; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006801:Humans; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013739:Testosterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D017304:Annexin A5; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D013739:Testosterone; D004317:Doxorubicin; D019908:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf