Molecular determinants of cancer cell sensitivity and resistance towards the sesquiterpene farnesol

Farnesol is a non-cyclic sesquiterpene (isoprenoid) found in the essential oils of many plants. In cancer biology, farnesylation of mutated Ras oncoproteins allows the proteins to dock to the membrane and be functionalized. Therefore, farnesyltransferase is a target for drug development to inhibit Ras. Farnesol exhibits cytotoxic activity against tumor cells in vitro and in vivo, implying that novel treatment strategies may be devised independent of Ras farnesylation. Tumors frequently develop resistance towards standard chemotherapies, and thus novel agents are urgently required that bypass the cross-resistance evoked by established anticancer drugs. We investigated whether classical mechanisms of drug resistance such as ATP-binding cassette transporters (P-glycoprotein/MDR1, MRP1, BCRP), the tumor suppressor gene TP53, and the oncogene EGFR play a role in the response of tumor cells to farnesol. Remarkably, none of these genes conferred resistance to farnesol, indicating that this compound may be useful for the treatment of otherwise drug-resistant and refractory tumors expressing these mechanisms of resistance. Furthermore, we applied a pharmacogenomic approach to explore molecular determinants of sensitivity and resistance to farnesol. Among the candidates were genes involved in apoptosis (STAB2, NUMBL), regulation of transcription (CDYL, FOXA2) and diverse other functional groups (INE1, CTRL, MRS2, NEB, LMO7, C9orf3, EHBP1). The fact that these genes are not associated with resistance to traditional anticancer drugs suggests farnesol may possess a novel mechanism of action, and consequently might bypass drug resistance to established chemotherapeutics.