Generation of multidrug resistant lymphoma cell lines stably expressing P-glycoprotein

The objective of this study was to generate new P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-expressing multidrug resistant (MDR) cell lines by drug selection. Since our previous studies have been carried out with cells infected with a P-gp-containing vector, it was important to confirm our findings in cells generated by drug selection. In this report, we describe three B-lymphoma cell lines which became drug-resistant by stepwise exposure to vincristine (VCR): Raji cells resistant to 18 nM VCR (R18V), Namalwa cells resistant to 21 nM VCR (N21V) and DHL-4 cells resistant to 12 nM VCR (DHL-4/12V). Cells overexpressed P-gp and continued to express CD19, CD20 and CD22, all of which are targets for monoclonal antibody (MAb) therapy. The P-gp pump in these new cells was functional as determined by the efflux of Rhodamine 123 and DIOC2, and the three cell lines were resistant to several chemotherapeutic drugs. We further determined that their P-gp phenotype was stable in xenografted SCID mice and that the tumors were also resistant to chemotherapy. We will now use these new MDR cells to determine whether monoclonal antibodies against CD19 and -20 can reverse P-gp, as we previously demonstrated using Namalwa cells infected with a human mdr1 gene-containing retrovirus.