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Identification of Compounds Selectively Killing Multidrug-Resistant Cancer Cells

¹ Institute of Enzymology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary, ² Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute, and ³ Laboratory of Biophysical Chemistry, NHLBI, Bethesda, Maryland, and ⁴ Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, University of Texas-MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Requests for reprints: Gergely Szakács, Institute of Enzymology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Karolina ut 29, Budapest 1113, Hungary. Phone: 3613724321; Fax: 3613724353; E-mail: szakacs{at}biomembrane.hu.

There is a great need for the development of novel chemotherapeutic agents that overcome the emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer. We catalogued the National Cancer Institute's DTP drug repository in search of compounds showing increased toxicity in MDR cells. By comparing the sensitivity of parental cell lines with MDR derivatives, we identified 22 compounds possessing MDR-selective activity. Analysis of structural congeners led to the identification of 15 additional drugs showing increased toxicity in Pgp-expressing cells. Analysis of MDR-selective compounds led to the formulation of structure activity relationships and pharmacophore models. This data mining coupled with experimental data points to a possible mechanism of action linked to metal chelation. Taken together, the discovery of the MDR-selective compound set shows the robustness of the developing field of MDR-targeting therapy as a new strategy for resolving Pgp-mediated MDR. [Cancer Res 2009;69(21):8293–301]

Key Words: chemotherapy • multidrug resistance • P-glycoprotein • NCI-60 • NSC73306