Modulation of P-glycoprotein activity by the substituted quinoxalinone compound QA3 in adriamycin-resistant K562/A02 cells.

QA3 is a derivative of the substituted 1,3-dimethyl-1H-quinoxalin-2-ones, which are compounds that may selectively antagonize P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in multidrug resistance (MDR) cancer cells. Our previous work identified QA3 as a candidate compound for reversing MDR in cancer cells. In the present study, we found that QA3 significantly decreases the intracellular level of ATP, stimulates ATPase activity in membrane microsomes and decreases protein kinase C (PKC) activity. These results indicated that QA3 inhibits P-gp activity by blocking ATP hydrolysis and ATP regeneration. Furthermore, QA3 triggered and increased adriamycin-induced K562/A02 cell apoptosis as evidenced by Annexin V-FITC plus PI staining.Western blot analysis showed that the levels of cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-3 proteins increased, and similarly, the levels of procaspase-9 and procaspase-3 decreased after QA3 treatment. Consequently, poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) activity increased as evidenced by the presence of the PARP cleavage product in K562/A02 cells. QA3 also enhanced the potency of adriamycin against K562/A02 cells as demonstrated by increased apoptosis and activation of caspase-9,-3 and PARP. These data support the observation that P-gp activity is inhibited after QA3 treatment. Moreover, these results indicate that QA3 is a novel MDR reversal agent with potent inhibitory action against P-gp MDR cancer cells.

Reversal effect of substituted 1,3-dimethyl-1H-quinoxalin-2-ones on multidrug resistance in adriamycin-resistant K562/A02 cells.

QA1 and QA3 are the derivatives of substituted 1,3-dimethyl-1H-quinoxalin-2-ones that may selectively antagonize P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in multidrug resistance (MDR) cancer cells. Herein, we examined the reversal effect of two compounds on MDR in adriamycin (Adr)-induced resistant K562/A02 cells. MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) assay showed that QA1 and QA3 weakly inhibited the growth of tumor cells. However, the compounds increased Adr-induced cytotoxicity toward K562/A02 cells. The IC(50) values of Adr toward K562/A02 were decreased in the presence of QA1 or QA3. The maximal reversal fold (RF) of QA1 and QA3 was reached 6.9 and 9.0, respectively. The action of QA1 and QA3 was also confirmed by the increase of intracellular Adr accumulation in K562/A02 cells. In mechanism study, the intracellular accumulation and efflux of Rh123 were measured using multilabel counter with excitation/emission wavelengths of 485/535nm. An increase of intracellular Rh123 and the decrease of efflux were observed in K562/A02 cells incubation with QA1 or QA3, indicating that the activity of P-gp was blocked. These results suggested that the derivatives of substituted 1,3-dimethyl-1H-quinoxalin-2-ones might reverse MDR in K562/A02 cells via inhibition activity of P-gp. QA1 and QA3 might be the candidate agents for reversing MDR of cancer.