Effects of tetrandrine on nuclear factor-kappaB expression in leukemia multidrug-resistant cell line K562/A02

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of tetrandrine (Tet) on nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) expression in leukemia cell line K562 and multidrug-resistant K562/A02 cell line. METHODS: The activations of NF-kappaB in K562 and K562/A02 cells and the effects of 1 micromol/L Tet on NF-kappaB expression were determined by immunocytochemistry and Western blot assay. RESULTS: Tet had no effect on NF-kappaB expression in K562 cells after 6- and 12-hour treatment (P>0.05), and K562/A02 cells displayed higher level of NF-kappaB protein expression than their parental K562 cells (P<0.01). Tet could significantly down-regulate NF-kappaB protein expression and nuclear translocation in K562/A02 cells shown by immunocytochemistry and Western blot, and this decrease became more significant after 12-hour treatment than after at 6-hour treatment (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Activation of NF-kappaB may be related to multidrug resistance of K562/A02 cell line. And the inhibition of NF-kappaB activation by Tet leads to multidrug resistance reversal in K562/A02 cell line.