Bioreductive activation of mitoxantrone by NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase does not change its apoptotic stimuli properties in regard to sensitive and multidrug resistant leukaemia HL60 cells.

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of bioreductive activation of antitumour drug, mitoxantrone (MX), by liver NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) on inducing apoptosis of human promyelocytic sensitive leukaemia HL60 cell line and its multidrug resistance (MDR) sublines exhibiting two different phenotypes of MDR related to the overexpression of P-glycoprotein (HL60/VINC) or MRP1 (HL60/DOX). It was found that non-activated as well as CPR-activated form of MX used at IC90 were able to influence cell cycle of sensitive HL60 as well as resistant cells and induce apoptosis. Interestingly, it was evidenced that HL60/VINC cells were more susceptible to undergo caspase-3/caspase-8-dependent apoptosis induced by both studied forms of MX compared to HL60 and HL60/DOX cells. However, the examined agent did not change the expression of Fas receptors on the surface of HL60 sensitive as well as resistant cells regardless of its form used in the study. Obtained results suggest that CPR-dependent reductive activation of MX does not change its apoptotic stimuli properties in regard to sensitive HL60 and multidrug resistant (HL60/VINC and HL60/DOX) leukaemia cells. Nevertheless, taking into account that side toxic effects observed in course of patient treatment with antitumour drugs are dose-dependent, it seems that the reported increase in antiproliferative activity and ability to induce apoptosis of MX after its reductive activation by exogenous CPR against the MDR cells overexpressing both P-glycoprotein and MRP1 at much more lower concentrations of this drug could be of clinical importance for the treatment of tumours resistant to classical chemotherapy.