[Possibility of overcoming ACNU resistance in ACNU-resistant sublines of rat brain tumors in vitro by a calmodulin inhibitor].

A calmodulin inhibitor, trifluoperazine, was found to enhance the cytotoxicity of ACNU in vitro in rat C6 glioma, 9L gliosarcoma and their ACNU-resistant sublines (C6/ACNU and 9L/ACNU). Uptake and retention of ACNU in these cells were studied with [14C]ACNU in the absence or presence of trifluoperazine. The results indicated that intracellular uptake and retention of ACNU in C6 and 9L cells were larger than those in C6/ACNU and 9L/ACNU cells, and that trifluoperazine increased the cellular uptake and retention of ACNU in C6 and 9L, especially in C6/ACNU and 9L/ACNU cells. The amounts of ACNU in C6/ACNU and 9L/ACNU cells reached almost the same level as those detected in C6 and 9L cells. When trifluoperazine were added along with ACNU to the culture in vitro at a concentration of 10 and 20 microM, ACNU resistance was completely overcome. Furthermore, treatment of C6 and C6/ACNU cells with 20 microM trifluoperazine did not change the cellular uptake rate of [14C]AIB (alpha-aminoisobutyric acid), which might indicate that the membrane permeability of the cells was kept intact during the drug treatment. The same phenomenon was observed in 9L and 9L/ACNU cells. It might be concluded that the enhanced effect of cytotoxicity of ACNU in ACNU-resistant rat brain tumor cells presented in this study is presumably due to the increase of intracellular concentration of ACNU resulting from the inhibition of the efflux of ACNU by trifluoperazine from the resistant cells. It was also suggested that ACNU resistance in malignant brain tumors could be overcome by combination chemotherapy with ACNU and calmodulin inhibitors.