• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6935-6938
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• 2014

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. The ABCB1 protein, a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family, encoded by the ABCB1 gene, considerably influences the distribution of drugs across cell membranes as well as multidrug resistance (MDR) of antineoplastic drugs. In contrast to the extensive knowledge on the pharmacological action of ABCB1 protein, the correlation between the clinical-pathological data and ABCB1 protein expression in patients with GC remains unclear. The aim was to investigate association between ABCB1 expression and overall survival in GC patients. Human tumor fragments from 57 GC patients were examined by immunohistochemistry assay. We observed lower survival rate of patients with GC who were positive for ABCB1 expression (p=0.030). Based on these observations, we conclude that GC patients with positive ABCB1 protein immunohistochemical expression in their tumors suffer shorter overall survival.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2016

Background: Although opioids are the most commonly used medications to control postoperative pain in children, the analgesic effects could have a large inter-individual variability according to genotypes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms and the analgesic effect of morphine for postoperative pain in children. Methods: A prospective study was conducted in 88 healthy children undergoing tonsillectomy, who received morphine during the operation. The postoperative pain score, frequency of rescue analgesics, and side effects of morphine were assessed in the post-anesthesia care unit. The children were genotyped for OPRM1 A118G, ABCB1 C3435T, and COMT Val158Met. Results: Children with at least one G allele for OPRM1 (AG/GG) had higher postoperative pain scores compared with those with the AA genotype at the time of discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (P = 0.025). Other recovery profiles were not significantly different between the two groups. There was no significant relationship between genotypes and postoperative pain scores in analysis of ABCB1 and COMT polymorphisms. Conclusions: Genetic polymorphism at OPRM1 A118G, but not at ABCB1 C3435T and COMT Val158Met, influences the analgesic effect of morphine for immediate acute postoperative pain in children.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.330-335
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• 2019

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) encoding the HBV x protein (HBx) is a known causative agent of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Its pathogenic activities in HCC include interference with several signaling pathways associated with cell proliferation and apoptosis. Mutant C-terminal-truncated HBx isoforms are frequently found in human HCC and have been shown to enhance proliferation and invasiveness leading to HCC malignancy. We investigated the molecular mechanism of the reduced doxorubicin cytotoxicity by C-terminal truncated HBx. Cells transfected with C-terminal truncated HBx exhibited reduced cytotoxicity to doxorubicin compared to those transfected with full-length HBx. The doxorubicin resistance of cells expressing C-terminal truncated HBx correlated with upregulation of the ATP binding cassette subfamily B member 1(ABCB1) transporter, resulting in the enhanced efflux of doxorubicin. Inhibiting the activity of ABCB1 and silencing ABCB1 expression by small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) increased the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin. These results indicate that elevated ABCB1 expression induced by C-terminal truncation of HBx was responsible for doxorubicin resistance in HCC. Hence, co-treatment with an ABCB1 inhibitor and an anticancer agent may be effective for the treatment of patients with liver cancer containing the C-terminal truncated HBx.