Circumvention of multidrug resistance in neoplastic cells through scavenger receptor mediated drug delivery.

A conjugate of the antineoplastic drug daunomycin (DNM) with maleylated bovine serum albumin (MBSA-DNM) was taken up with high efficiency by a multidrug resistant variant, JD100, of the murine-macrophage tumour cell line, J774A.1, through the scavenger receptors resulting in cessation of DNA synthesis. In contrast, free DNM at similar concentrations did not affect the incorporation of [3H]thymidine by these cells. These results suggest that receptor-mediated intracellular delivery of antineoplastic drugs could be a viable and new approach for overcoming the problem of multidrug resistance in chemotherapy of neoplastic diseases.