Influence of human tumor suppressor PTEN on sensitivity of malignant cells to anticancer drugs

The influence of the human tumor suppressor PTEN on sensitivity of tumor cells to cytostatic drugs was studied. Rat ras-transformed (N-rasAsp12) fibroblasts were stably transfected with a full-size PTEN gene. Transfected clone was characterized by an enhanced expression of PTEN and a more normal phenotype in comparison with the parental cells. The effect of transient transfection with PTEN on the sensitivity of several malignant cell lines to the cytostatic drugs colchicine and adriablastine was studied. These drugs differ from each other in action mechanisms and intracellular targets. The tumor cell lines tested in this study included parental cell lines and stable sublines possessing drug resistance due to overexpression of P-glycoprotein. In all cell lines, introduction of exogenous PTEN caused a decrease in proliferation rates. This indicated that transgene was active. The chemosensitivity of some drug-resistant sublines was changed after PTEN transfection, but the drug sensitivity of parental cell lines remained unaffected. The effect of PTEN overexpression on chemosensitivity of malignant cells to cytostatic drugs was found to depend both on their mechanisms of action and on the origin of transfected cells. Our data suggest that PTEN is involved into the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in cells studied.