Piperlongumine reverses doxorubicin resistance through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in K562/A02 human leukemia cells.

Drug resistance is an important obstacle to human leukemia therapeutics. Piperlongumine has previously demonstrated the ability to suppress certain human tumor processes; however, the ability of piperlongumine to reverse the drug resistance of human leukemia and its mechanism of action have not yet been clearly elucidated. In this study, the doxorubicin resistance reversal effect of piperlongumine on K562/A02 human leukemia cells and the underlying mechanism were investigated. The results indicated that piperlongumine promoted doxorubicin sensitivity, apoptosis, the intracellular accumulation of rhodamine-123, the activities of caspase-3 and -8, and the expression of reactive oxygen species, p53, p27 and p-PTEN. Furthermore, it suppressed the expression of P-glycoprotein, MDR1, MRP1, survivin and p-Akt, and the transcriptional activities of NF-κB and twist, and arrested the cell cycle in the G2/M phase. The results indicate that piperlongumine has the potential to be used as a therapeutic agent for human leukemia.