Biological characterization of multidrug-resistant human colon carcinoma sublines induced/selected by two methods.

Two independent multidrug-resistant (MDR) sublines, AdR1.2 and SRA1.2, were developed from the established human colon carcinoma cell line LoVo. AdR1.2 was developed by a long-term continuous exposure of LoVo cells to Adriamycin in stepwise increments of concentration; SRA1.2 was selected/induced by pulse treatments by using a single concentration of Adriamycin. The two resistant sublines were cross-resistant and cross-sensitive to a similar spectrum of cytotoxic agents. However, AdR1.2 was most resistant to Adriamycin among the nine agents tested, and SRA1.2 was most resistant to Vinca alkaloids. Although SRA1.2 had biological characteristics similar to those of LoVo, AdR1.2 had remarkably altered biological properties, including no detectable carcinoembryonic antigen secretion, a smaller proportion of proliferating cells and a lower growth rate, lower fraction of cells in S phase, a lower colony-forming ability, and smaller colonies. In addition, the resistant phenotype of AdR1.2 was reversed when the cells were grown in a drug-free medium, whereas SRA1.2 maintained its resistance for at least 10 months under similar conditions. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the plasma membrane proteins demonstrated overproduction of an Mr 130,000 protein in both the resistant sublines. The Mr 130,000 protein was not immunoreactive with C219 monoclonal antibody against p170, but the absence of Mr 130,000 protein in an AdR1.2 revertant and the parental LoVo suggests that it is an MDR-related plasma membrane protein. The absence of a 46-kDa cytosolic protein and the presence of a Mr 150,000 plasma membrane protein were found in AdR1.2 but not in SRA1.2. This Mr 150,000 protein immunoreacted with C219. This protein was also present, although in a reduced amount, in an AdR1.2 revertant that retained three times the MDR of LoVo cells and was thus comparable to SRA1.2. The two MDR sublines thus may represent two independent subclones which may serve as two different models for the study of multidrug resistance in human colon cancer.