The Role of E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Cbl Proteins in β-Elemene Reversing Multi-Drug Resistance of Human Gastric Adenocarcinoma Cells

Author： Zhang Ye Mu Xiao-Dong Li En-Zhe Luo Ying Song Na Qu Xiu-Juan Hu Xue-Jun Liu Yun-Peng

Publisher： MDPI

E-ISSN： 1422-0067|14|5|10075-10089

ISSN： 1422-0067

Source： International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol.14, Iss.5, 2013-05, pp. : 10075-10089

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Abstract

Recent studies indicate that β-elemene, a compound isolated from the Chinese herbal medicine Curcuma wenyujin, is capable of reversing tumor MDR, although the mechanism remains elusive. In this study, β-Elemene treatment markedly increased the intracellular accumulation of doxorubicin (DOX) and rhodamine 123 in both K562/DNR and SGC7901/ADR cells and significantly inhibited the expression of P-gp. Treatment of SGC7901/ADR cells with β-elemene led to downregulation of Akt phosphorylation and significant upregulation of the E3 ubiquitin ligases, c-Cbl and Cbl-b. Importantly, β-elemene significantly enhanced the anti-tumor activity of DOX in nude mice bearing SGC7901/ADR xenografts. Taken together, our results suggest that β-elemene may target P-gp-overexpressing leukemia and gastric cancer cells to enhance the efficacy of DOX treatment.