title: The reversal of antineoplastic drug resistance in cancer cells by β-elemene.
abstract: Multidrug resistance (MDR), defined as the resistance of cancer cells to compounds with diverse structures and mechanisms of actions, significantly limits the efficacy of antitumor drugs. A major mechanism that mediates MDR in cancer is the overexpression of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette transporters. These transporters bind to their respective substrates and catalyze their efflux from cancer cells, thereby lowering the intracellular concentrations of the substrates and thus attenuating or even abolishing their efficacy. In addition, cancer cells can become resistant to drugs via mechanisms that attenuate apoptosis and cell cycle arrest such as alterations in the p53, check point kinase, nuclear factor kappa B, and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms by which β-elemene, a compound extracted from Rhizoma zedoariae that has clinical antitumor efficacy, overcomes drug resistance in cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John's University, Queens, NY, 11439, USA. chenz@stjohns.edu.
authors.forename: Guan-Nan
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John's University, Queens, NY, 11439, USA. chenz@stjohns.edu.
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Ashby
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John's University, Queens, NY, 11439, USA. chenz@stjohns.edu.
authors.forename: Yun-Kai
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John's University, Queens, NY, 11439, USA. chenz@stjohns.edu.
authors.forename: Zhe-Sheng
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, 100730, P. R. China. guohuiqin2@163.com.
authors.forename: Huiqin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D017209:Apoptosis; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms; D030021:Pinellia; D012717:Sesquiterpenes
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C445979:beta-elemene