Resveratrol down-regulates survivin and induces apoptosis in human multidrug-resistant SPC-A-1/CDDP cells

We studied the effect of resveratrol treatment on multidrug-resistant human non-small cell lung cancer cells. Human multidrug-resistant SPC-A-1/CDDP cells were treated with resveratrol at a concentration of 25, 50, or 100 µM in in vitro studies and nude mice were implanted with multidrug-resistant SPC-A-1/and fed a special diet that included resveratrol at a dose of either 1 g/kg/day or 3 g/kg/day in in vivo studies. No adverse toxicological effects of resveratrol treatment were observed. The rate of cell proliferation, apoptosis ratio, cell cycle phase distribution, IC50 values of cisplatin, gefitinib, and paclitaxel, implanted tumour volume, and expression of survivin in resveratrol-treated and control mice were then determined. Resveratrol significantly inhibited the proliferation of SPC-A-1/CDDP cells, induced apoptosis, arrested the cell cycle phase between G0-G1 and S phase or at the G2/M phase, decreased the IC50 values of multiple chemotherapeutic drugs, and showed anti-tumour effects in nude mice that had been implanted with SPC-A-1/CDDP cells. In additional, resveratrol affected the proliferation of SPC-A-1/CDDP cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Expression of survivin in SPC-A-1/CDDP cells decreased after they were treated with all concentrations of resveratrol and resveratrol was also found to have a dose-dependent effect on survivin expression. Resveratrol can induce apoptosis in multidrug-resistant human NSCLC SPC-A-1/CDDP cells by down-regulating the expression of survivin.