Enhancement of Transgene Expression by Combining Glucocorticoids and Anti-mitotic Agents during Transient Transfection Using DNA-Cationic Liposomes

The anti-mitotic drugs colchicine and paclitaxel increase transfection efficiency of cationic liposomes. Using combined lipid-mediated transfection with anti-mitotic agents for gene therapy of cancer has been limited due to the likely development of multi-drug resistance (MDR). We treated human cancer cell lines and normal liver cells with glucocorticoids in combination with the antimitotics paclitaxel or colchicine before transient, cationic lipid-mediated transfection. Colchicine and paclitaxel each enhanced transgene expression in several cell lines. Moreover, glucocorticoid, combined with paclitaxel or colchicine, significantly increased reporter gene expression above that seen in cells treated with each drug alone. P-glycoprotein (PGP), a drug exporter encoded by ABCB1, exports both paclitaxel and colchicine. To determine the influence of PGP in colchicine- or paclitaxel-mediated enhancement of transgene expression, cells were treated with a histone deacetylase inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), known to induce ABCB1 expression, before treatment with colchicine or paclitaxel. TSA significantly reduced colchicine-mediated increases in reporter gene expression. Addition of glucocorticoid to colchicine pretreatment significantly attenuated TSA-mediated inhibition of colchicine-induced increases in transgene expression. TSA accelerated and glucocorticoid blocked export of rhodamine 123, a molecule known to be exported by PGP. The glucocorticoid/paclitaxel combination also increased reporter gene expression in BE(2)C cells, which constitutively express high levels of PGP. Thus, the degree of enhancement of transgene expression mediated by these anti-mitotics seems to be dependent on PGP activity. Glucocorticoids augment colchicine- or paclitaxel-mediated enhancement of transgene expression most likely by reducing drug egress through PGP.