Exp Mol Med.  1998 Jun;30(2):87-92.

Suppression of multidrug resistance via inhibition of heat shock factor by quercetin in MDR cells

• Kim SH
• Yeo GS
• Lim YS
• Kang CD
• Kim CM
• Chung BS

Abstract

MDR1 promoter has been shown to contain heat shock elements (HSE), and it has been reported that FM3A/M and P388/M MDR cells show a constitutively activated heat shock factor (HSF), suggesting that HSF might be an important target for reversing the multidrug resistance. Therefore, it was examined whether quercetin, which has been shown to interfere with the formation of the complex between HSE and HSF, and to downregulate the level of HSF1, can sensitize MDR cells against anticancer drugs by inhibition of HSF DNA-binding activity. In this study, quercetin appeared to inhibit the constitutive HSF DNA-binding activity and the sodium arsenite-induced HSF DNA-binding activity in the MDR cells. The basal and sodium arsenite-induced MDRCAT activities were remarkably suppressed by the treatment of quercetin. These results were well consistent with the finding that the treatment of quercetin decreased the expression level of P-gp, MDR1 gene product, in dose-dependent manner, and markedly increased the sensitivity of MDR cells to vincristine or vinblastine. These results suggest that quercetin can decrease the expression of P-gp via inhibition of HSF DNA-binding activity, and might be useful as a chemosensitizer in MDR cells.

Keyword

multidrug resistance (mdr); heat shock factor (HSF); quercetin

MeSH Terms

Animal
Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology
Arsenites/pharmacology
Carcinoma/drug therapy
Drug Resistance, Multiple/physiology*
Drug Resistance, Neoplasm/physiology
Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism
Heat-Shock Proteins/drug effects*
Heat-Shock Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors
Leukemia, Experimental/drug therapy
Mice
P-Glycoprotein/genetics
P-Glycoprotein/drug effects
Quercetin/pharmacology*
Sodium Compounds/pharmacology
Tumor Cells, Cultured
Vinblastine/pharmacology
Vincristine/pharmacology