• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2014

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a permeability glycoprotein also known as multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1). P-gp is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter that pumps various types of drugs out of cells. These transporters reduce the intracellular concentrations of drugs and disturb drug absorption. The Caco-2 cell permeability assay system is an effective in vitro system that predicts the intestinal absorption of drugs and the functions of enzymes and transporters. Rhodamine-123 (R-123) and digoxin are well-known P-gp substrates that have been used to determine the function of P-gp. Efflux of P-gp substrates by P-gp has been routinely evaluated. To date, a number of herbal medicines have been tested with Caco-2 cell permeability assay system to assess bioavailability. There are growing efforts to find phytochemicals that potentially regulate P-gp function. The Caco-2 cell permeability assay system is a primary strategy to search for candidates of P-gp inhibitors. In this mini review, we have summarized the P-gp modulation by herbal extracts, decoctions or single components from natural products using Caco-2 cell permeability assays. Many natural products are known to regulate P-gp and herbal medicines could be used in combination with conventional drugs to enhance bioavailability.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.23-30
• /
• 2011

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the main obstacles in the chemotherapy of cancer. MDR is associated with the over expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), resulting in increased efflux of chemotherapy from cancer cells. Inhibiting P-gp as a method to reverse MDR in cancer patients has been studied extensively, but the results have generally been disappointing. First-generation agents were limited by unacceptable toxicity, whereas second-generation agents had better tolerability but were confounded by unpredictable pharmacokinetic interactions and interactions with other transporter proteins. Third-generation inhibitors have high potency and specificity for P-gp. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic studies to date have shown no appreciable impact on drug metabolism and no clinically significant drug interactions with common chemotherapy agents. Third-generation P-gp inhibitors have shown promise in clinical trials. The continued development of these agents may establish the true therapeutic potential of P-gp-mediated MDR reversal.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.16
• /
• pp.6831-6839
• /
• 2015

Multidrug resistance is a principal mechanism by which tumors become resistant to structurally and functionally unrelated anticancer drugs. Resistance to chemotherapy has been correlated with overexpression of p-glycoprotein (p-gp), a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of membrane transporters. P-gp mediates resistance to a broad-spectrum of anticancer drugs including doxorubicin, taxol, and vinca alkaloids by actively expelling the drugs from cells. Use of specific inhibitors/blocker of p-gp in combination with clinically important anticancer drugs has emerged as a new paradigm for overcoming multidrug resistance. The aim of this paper is to review p-gp regulation by dietary nutraceuticals and to correlate this dietary nutraceutical induced-modulation of p-gp with activity of anticancer drugs.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.8
• /
• pp.2317-2325
• /
• 2014

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a member of the ATP-Binding Cassette transporter superfamily and mediates transmembrane efflux of many drugs. Since it is involved in multi-drug resistance activity in various cancer cells, the development of P-gp inhibitor is one of the major concerns in anticancer therapy. Human P-gp protein has at least two "functional" drug binding sites that are called "H" site and "R" site, hence it has multi-binding-specificities. Though the amino acid residues that constitute in drug binding pockets have been proposed by previous experimental evidences, the shapes and the binding poses are not revealed clearly yet. In this study, human P-gp structure was built by homology modeling with available crystal structure of mouse P-gp as a template and docking simulations were performed with inhibitors such as verapamil, hoechst33342, and rhodamine123 to construct the interaction between human P-gp and its inhibitors. The docking simulations were performed 500 times for each inhibitor, and then the interaction frequency of the amino acids at the binding poses was analyzed. With the analysis results, we proposed highly contributing residues that constitute binding pockets of the human P-gp for the inhibitors. Using the highly contributing residues, we proposed the locations and the shapes of verapamil binding site and "R" site, and suggested the possible position of "H" site.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 1996

Teh baculovirus gp64 glycoprotein is a major component of the envelope of budded virus (BV) and has been shown that it plays an essential role in the infection process, especially virus-cell membrane fusion. We have cloned Autographa californica Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (AcNPV) gp64 protein were examined for membrane fusion activity by using a synchtium formation assay under various conditions. The optimal conditions required for inducing membrane fusion are 1) form pH 4.0 to 4.8 2) 15 min exposure of cells to acidic pH 3) at least 1 .mu.g of gp64 cloned plasmid DNA per 3 * 10$^{6}$ cells 4) and an exposure of cells to acidic pH at 72 h post-transfection. In order to investigate the role of hydrophobicity of the gp64 glycoprotein for the membrane fusion, the two leucine residues (amino acid position at 229 and 230) within hydrophobic region I were substituted to alanine by PCR-derived site-directed mutagenisis and the membrane fusion activity of the mutant was anlaysed. The gp64 glycoprotein carrying double alamine substitution mutation showed no significant difference in fusion activity. This result suggested that minor changes in hydrophobicity at the amino acid position 229 and 230 does not affect the acid-induced membrane fusion activity of the gp64 glycoprotein.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.293-298
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate the modification of expression and functionality of the drug transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp) by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-${\alpha}$) and interferon-gamma (IFN-${\gamma}$) at the blood-brain barrier (BBB). We used immortalized human brain microvessel endothelial cells (iHBMEC) and primary human brain microvessel endothelial cells (pHBMEC) as in vitro BBB model. To investigate the change of p-gp expression, we carried out real time PCR analysis and Western blotting. To test the change of p-gp activity, we performed rhodamin123 (Rh123) accumulation study in the cells. In results of real time PCR analysis, the P-gp mRNA expression was increased by TNF-${\alpha}$ or IFN-${\gamma}$ treatment for 24 hr in both cell types. However, 48 hr treatment of TNF-${\alpha}$ or IFN-${\gamma}$ did not affect P-gp mRNA expression. In addition, co-treatment of TNF-${\alpha}$ and IFN-${\gamma}$ markedly increased the P-gp mRNA expression in both cells. TNF-${\alpha}$ or IFN-${\gamma}$ did not influence P-gp protein expression whatever the concentration of cytokines or duration of treatment in both cells. However, P-gp expression was increased after treatments of both cytokines together in iHBMEC cells only compared with untreated control. Furthermore, in both cell lines, TNF-${\alpha}$ or IFN-${\gamma}$ induced significant decrease of P-gp activity for 24 hr treatment. And, both cytokines combination treatment also decreased significantly P-gp activity. These results suggest that P-gp expression and function at the BBB is modulated by TNF-${\alpha}$ or/and IFN-${\gamma}$. Therefore, the distribution of P-gp depending drugs in the central nervous system can be modulated by neurological inflammatory diseases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.12
• /
• pp.6039-6045
• /
• 2012

This study was conducted to assess the predictive value of p-glycoprotein (p-gp) and p53 immunoexpression in human papillomavirus (HPV) infected cases of cervical dysplasia. Expression of both p-gp and p53 proteins was detected in cervical smears from 177 squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) cases along with 183 "atypical squamous cells of unknown significance" (ASCUS) and 150 normal cases. HPV 16 and 18 infection was detected by polymerase chain reaction using type-specific primers for HPV sub-types. There were no significant detectable p53 and p-gp expression in the normal cervix smears (p>0.05). In the ASCUS group 10 cases were positive for both p53 and p-gp immunoreactivity. In cervical dysplasia cases, p53 was positive in 86 (48.58%) while p-gp was positive in 93 (52.54%) and the two markers showed a highly significant correlation (r=0.92, p<0.001). Expression of p53 and p-gp was associated with grade of SIL (p<0.001). A positive correlation between the presence of HPV and expression of proteins p53 and p-gp in smears of patients with cervical lesions was also noted (p<0.001). Thus, p53 and p-gp immunostaining in cervical smears may act as an auxiliary biomarker for detection of HPV-associated cervical lesions. Additionally, a significant positive correlation between ascending grades of SIL and labeling indices of markers suggests that p53 and p-gp can be used as an adjunct to cytomorphological interpretation of conventional cervical Pap smears.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.1639-1642
• /
• 2014

The multidrug resistance phenotype is one of the major problems in development of cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy. Some natural compounds from medicinal plants have demonstrated promising capacity in enhancing anticancer effects in drug resistant cancer cells. We aimed to investigate whether mangiferin might have an ability to re-sensitize MCF-7 breast cancer cells previously treated with short-term doxorubicin in vitro, through the modulation of efflux transporters, P-glycoprotein (P-gp), MRP1 and BCRP. We exposed MCF-7 breast cancer cells pretreated with doxorubicin for 10 days to mangiferin (10, 25 or 50 ${\mu}M$) for 96 hours. Afterwards, we evaluated influence on cell viability and level of mRNA expression of P-gp, MRP1 and BCRP. Doxorubicin given in combination with mangiferin at low concentrations (10 and 25 ${\mu}M$) failed to give significant reduction in cell viability, while at the highest concentrations, the combination significantly reduced cell viability. The mRNA expression analysis of P-gp, MRP1 and BCRP showed that mangiferin had inhibitory effects on P-gp but no effects on MRP1 and BCRP. In conclusion, we suggest that mangiferin at high concentrations can be used as chemosensitizer for doxorubicin therapy. This effect might be attributed by inhibitory effects of mangiferin on P-glycoprotein expression.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.315-320
• /
• 2006

Silymarin showed P-glycoprptein(P-gp) inhibitory activity as much as verapamil, a well-known P-gp inhibitor, by decreasing $IC_{50}$ value of daunomycin(DNM)($16.0{\pm}0.7{\mu}M$), increasing the DNM accumulation($224.9{\pm}3.2%$), and decreasing DNM efflux($58.5{\pm}6.7%$), concurrently. In this study, we clarified the mechanism of action of silymarin for P-gp inhibitory function. First, silymarin may bind to the ATP-binding site and thus, prevent ATP hydrolysis. Second, the P-gp inhibitory activity of silymarin is not related to changing the cellular P-gp level. Third, the cytotoxicity of silymarin was increased in the presence of verapamil, reflecting that silymarin is a competent P-gp substrate against verapamil in the P-gp-overexpressed adriamycin-resistant MCF-7 breast cancer(MCF-7/ADR) cells. Conclusively, silymarin had the P-gp inhibitory activity through the action of competent binding to the P-gp substrate-binding site. Therefore, silymarin can be a good candidate for safe and effective MDR reversing agent in clinical chemotherapy by administering concomitantly with anticancer drugs.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.41 no.6
• /
• pp.381-386
• /
• 2011

Multi-drug resistance (MDR) has been known as a major hurdle in cancer chemotherapy. One of the most clinically significant causes of MDR was the efflux of anticancer agents mediated by p-glycoprotein (p-gp) over-expressed in MDR cancer cells. To overcome MDR, there have been several strategies such as co-administration with p-gp inhibitors and encapsulation of anticancer drugs into drug delivery systems. In the present study, curcumin was evaluated for its potential as p-gp inhibitor and MDR reversal activity when combined with paclitaxel incorporated into lipid nanoparticles (PTX/LN). Western blot assay showed curcumin did not modulate the level of p-gp expression in MCF-7/ADR which is a MDR variant of human breast cancer cell line, MCF-7, and over-expresses p-gp. However, curcumin inhibited p-gp-mediated efflux of calcein in a dose-dependent manner even though it showed lower activity compared to verapamil, a well-known p-gp inhibitor. Incorporation of paclitaxel into lipid nanoparticles partially recovered the anticancer activity of paclitaxel in MCF-7/ADR. The combined use of curcumin and PTX/LN exhibited further full reversal of MDR, suggesting susceptibility of PTX/LN to the efflux system. In conclusion, combined approach of using p-gp inhibitors and incorporation of the anticancer agents into nano-delivery systems would be an efficient strategy to overcome MDR.