Interferon-alpha modulates resistance to cisplatin in three human hepatoma cell lines

Abstract:

We investigated the expression of the drug resistance-related genes, multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1), multidrug resistance associated protein gene (MRP), and the DNA topoisomerase IIα, DNA topoisomerase IIβ, and glutathione-S-transferase π gene (GST-π) in three human hepatoma cell lines (HepG 2, HuH 7, SK-Hep-1) with or without drug treatment with interferon-α (IFN-α) and cisplatin (CDDP), by a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method and a competitive PCR method. The signals of the MDR1, MRP, topoisomerase IIα, and topoisomerase IIβ genes in HepG2 were weakened when IFN-α was added to CDDP. In SK-Hep-1, the administration of CDDP alone increased the signals of MDR1 while the addition of IFN-α decreased the signals, and the signals of GST-π were decreased by IFN-α plus CDDP. In summary, our results concerning the expression of drug resistance-related genes in three human hepatoma cell lines demonstrate that IFN-α may modulate the mechanism of resistance to CDDP in liver cancer.