Arsenic trioxide inhibits the growth of adriamycin resistant osteosarcoma cells through inducing apoptosis.

Given that arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)) has been successfully used as a chemotherapeutic agent for refractory malignant tumors, this study is aimed at investigating the effect of As(2)O(3) on human Adriamycin resistant osteosarcoma cell line Saos-2. The mechanism underlying multi drug resistance (MDR) in osteosarcoma cells and the anti-tumor effect of As(2)O(3) on Adriamycin resistant osteosarcoma cells were analyzed. In our experiment, we first selected Adriamycin resistant osteosarcoma cell line by growing the classic osteosarcoma cell line Saos-2 in the medium with increasing drug concentrations. Then, we compared the IC50s of the osteosarcoma cells treated with different anticancer drugs by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Subsequently, we assessed the expression of classic MDR related molecules, Pgp, multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) and glutathione (GSH) activity in the wild type and Adriamycin resistant Saos-2 cells. Furthermore, the apoptosis was assessed by concerning DNA fragment and flow cytometry with Annexin-V staining. To elucidate the underlying mechanism of the apoptosis, related proteins Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bax, Bak, cleaved Caspase-3 and cleaved Caspase-9 were analyzed by western blotting. The data showed that the resistance to Adriamycin affected the sensitivity of osteosarcoma cell to other chemotherapeutic agents. The IC50s of Saos-2/ADM cells for methotrexate (1.74-fold), Cisplatin (1.43-fold) and As(2)O(3) (1.21-fold) were increased compared with Saos-2 control cells. The expression of Pgp was upregulated comparing with the control cells. No significant difference was detected about the MRP and the glutathione-S-transferase activity and intracellular GSH concentration among different treated osteosarcoma cells. Apoptosis was observed and proved. The western blotting showed that the expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL was downregulated. Meanwhile, the level of Bax, Bak, cleaved Caspase-3 and cleaved Caspase-9 was upregulated after treated with As(2)O(3). The study suggests that Adriamycin resistant osteosarcoma cells have good response to As(2)O(3)-based chemotherapy in vitro, probably via the pathway of inducing apoptosis. And As(2)O(3) might serve as an excellent alternative candidate for adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent on this incurable pediatric sarcoma.