High cytotoxic sensitivity of the human small cell lung doxorubicin-resistant carcinoma (GLC4/ADR) cell line to prodigiosin through apoptosis activation.

In the present study, we describe the cytotoxicity of the new drug prodigiosin (PG) in two small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) cell lines, GLC4 and its derived doxorubicin-resistant GLC4/ADR cell line, which overexpresses multidrug-related protein 1 (MRP-1). We observed through Western blot that PG mediated cytochrome c release, caspase cascade activation and PARP cleavage, thereby leading to apoptosis in a dose-response manner. MRP-1 expression increased after PG treatment, although that does not lead to protein accumulation. The MTT assay showed no difference in sensitivity to PG between the two cell lines. Our results support PG as a potential drug for the treatment of lung cancer as it overcomes the multidrug resistance phenotype produced by MRP-1 overexpression.