Among 10 patients who were highly resistant to AVE9633 or/and DM4, the cells from eight were examined for GO response: the cells from four were sensitive to GO and those from the other four were insensitive. from AML patients. Expression and functionality of the transporter protein were analyzed by flow cytometry. The cytotoxicity Anguizole of the drug was evaluated by MTT and apoptosis assays. Results P-gp activity, but not MRP1 and BCRP, attenuated AVE9633 and DM4 cytotoxicity in myeloid cell lines. Zosuquidar, a potent specific P-gp inhibitor, restored the sensitivity of cells expressing P-gp to both AVE9633 and DM4. However, the data from AML patients show that 10/25 samples of AML cells (40%) were resistant to AVE9633 or DM4 (IC50 500 nM), and this was not related to P-gp activity (p-Value: 0.7). Zosuquidar also failed to re-establish drug sensitivity. Furthermore, this resistance was not correlated with CD33 expression (p-Value: 0.6) in those cells. Conclusion P-gp activity is not a crucial mechanism of chemoresistance to AVE9633. For patients whose resistance to conventional anthracycline AML regimens is related to ABC protein expression, a combination with AVE9633 could be beneficial. Other mechanisms such as microtubule alteration could play an important role in chemoresistance to AVE9633. Background Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is usually characterised by Rabbit Polyclonal to TNFAIP8L2 the proliferation of clonal precursor myeloid cells with arrested differentiation and subsequent accumulation of myeloid blasts in the bone marrow. Approximately 60%C80% of younger adults with AML achieve complete remission (CR) with conventional chemotherapy such as cytarabine and an anthracycline. However, a significant proportion of the responsive patients suffer relapses and die of treatment-refractory disease. The treatment of relapsed AML patients is usually considerably less successful, especially in the elderly, because the toxicity of standard induction chemotherapy is usually Anguizole poorly tolerated in the older age group [1,2]. Thus, novel drugs and treatment strategies are major objectives of research; conjugates of antibodies with powerful cytotoxic agents have been explored. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) is the first immunoconjugate approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating refractory AML [3]. Sanofi Aventis and ImmunoGen have developed a novel immunoconjugate, AVE9633, which has been evaluated in Phase I Anguizole clinical trials on refractory AML patients. AVE9633 is an antibody-drug conjugate comprising the cytotoxic maytansinoid drug DM4 (N2′-deacetyl-N2′-(4-methyl-4(oxobutyldithio)-1-oxopentyl)-maytansine) linked via disulfide bonds to the anti-CD33 monoclonal antibody huMy9-6. CD33 is usually a transmembrane cell surface glycoprotein Anguizole receptor that is specific for myeloid cells. Its expression is regulated during maturation of the myeloid lineage, resulting in low level expression on peripheral granulocytes and tissue macrophages [4]. The CD33 antigen is usually expressed on approximately 90% of AML myeloblasts, including leukaemic clonogenic precursors as well as normal myeloid precursor cells, but not on CD34+ pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells or in non-haematopoietic tissues [5]. It represents an attractive target for antibody-based therapy in patients with AML. The immunoconjugate AVE9633 binds target cells expressing CD33 and is subsequently internalised. The DM4 is usually released within the cell and exerts its cytotoxic activity. The Phase I clinical trial [6] has provided evidence that AVE9633 has anti-leukaemia activity and may be given as an outpatient treatment. DM4, a structural analogue of maytansine, is usually a new thiol-containing and potent maytansinoid. It was synthesized in order to link maytansinoids to antibodies via disulfide bonds. Maytansinoids inhibit tubulin polymerization and microtubule assembly and enhance microtubule destabilization, so there is potent suppression of microtubule dynamics resulting in a mitotic block and subsequent apoptotic cell death [7]. They are approximately 200C1000 times as active as the Vinca alkaloids. Maytansine was evaluated Anguizole by the National Cancer Institute in Phase I and II studies during the 1970s [8-12]. Although complete and partial regressions of several cancers such as lymphoma, melanoma and acute lymphocytic leukaemia were noted, severe toxic effects were observed in those early clinical trials. Maytansine is usually a natural product, originally derived from the Ethiopian shrub em Maytansine serrata /em , so it may be a substrate of ABC proteins. One of the best-characterized mechanisms of chemoresistance in AML is usually P-glycoprotein (P-gp or ABCB1) expression; P-gp serves as an energy-dependent efflux pump that extrudes chemotherapeutic brokers out of cells [13]. Its expression is particularly high in older adults and in those with relapsed and refractory AML and.