REVIEW: Recent Advances in the Studies of Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Multidrug Resistance in Cancer Cells

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A. A. Stavrovskaya^1,a* and E. Yu. Rybalkina¹

¹Blokhin Medical Research Center of Oncology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 115478 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received February 6, 2018

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Here we present new approaches to better understanding multidrug resistance (MDR) development in cancer cells, such as identification of components of a complex process of MDR evolution. Recent advances in the studies of MDR are discussed: 1) chemotherapy agents might be involved in the selection of cancer stem cells resulting in the elevated drug resistance and enhanced tumorigenicity; 2) cell–cell interactions have a great effect on the MDR emergence and evolution; 3) mechanotransduction is an important signaling mechanism in cell–cell interactions; 4) proteins of the ABC transporter family which are often involved in MDR might be transferred between cells via microvesicles (epigenetic MDR regulation); 5) proteins providing cell-to-cell transfer of functional P-glycoprotein (MDR1 protein) via microvesicles have been investigated; 6) P-glycoprotein may serve to regulate apoptosis, as well as transcription and translation of target genes/proteins. Although proving once again that MDR is a complex multi-faceted process, these data open new approaches to overcoming it.

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KEY WORDS: multidrug resistance, cell–cell interactions, epigenetic regulation, microvesicles

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297918070015

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