We previously established that multicellular ovarian cancer spheroids develop intrinsic multidrug resistance with the appearance of quiescent cell areas. p27 protein is a determinant of such resistance. However, the precise molecular basis of such resistance remains unknown. We demonstrated herein that these multicellular ovarian cancer spheroids expressed high levels of p27 and P-gp protein. Compared with monolayer cells, there is a significant increase in the resistance of spheroids cells to anticancer reagent Taxol. Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide not only mediated down-regulation of p27, but also P-gp expression in multicellular spheroids. Selective small interfering RNAs (siRNA) of P-gp with MDR1-targeted short hairpin RNAs (shRNA) expression vector sensitized the cells to Taxol. These results suggest that both p27 and P-gp can modulate Taxol sensitivity respectively, while p27 requires P-gp for its full function. Increased P-gp protein expression through p27 mediation is one of the major mechanisms of Taxol resistance in ovarian cancer multicellular spheroids.

Related Articles