Establishment and characterization of cisplatin-resistant human epidermoid carcinoma cell line, A431 cell

Cisplatin, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP) is one of the most important anticancer agents, initially producing good responses in various tumors. However, resistance to this drug often develops in various tumors, and additional administration decreases its chemotherapeutic efficacy. The precise mechanism of acquisition of resistance to this drug is still uncertain. However in the present study, we established two CDDP-resistant sublines A431/CDDP1 and A431/CDDP2 from human epidermoid carcinoma cell line A431. These resistant sublines were constituted by exposing A431 cells to a gradually increasing dose of CDDP (A431/CDDP1), and by mutagenic induction with mutagen (A431/CDDP2). A431/CDDP1 and A431/CDDP2 have developed 3.1 and 2.7 times more resistance to CDDP than the original A431 cell in terms of IC₅₀. The two CDDP-resistant sublines showed cross-resistance to the CDDP analogue, carboplatin (CBDCA), but not to other chemotherapeutic drugs such as Adriamycin (ADR) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). These CDDP-resistant sublines were transplanted into nude mice to demonstrate the resistance to CDDP treatment in vivo. According to the in vitro assay, the mechanism of resistance in A431/CDDP1 and A431/CDDP2 seems to be based on a reduction of intracellular accumulation of CDDP, because their platinum concentration, which is the major component of CDDP, significantly declined. The established CDDP-resistant sublines may be used in further trials to improve the understanding of the mechanisms of resistance to CDDP.